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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

©i^ap. ©upQriglt^a,- 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



The EisTGLiSH Lai^gitage. 



A BRIEF HISTORY OF ITS 



Grammatical Changes and its Yocabulary. 



WITH EXERCISES ON 



n 



SYNONYMS, PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES, WORD- ANALYSIS 
AND WORD-BUILDING. 



A Text-Book for High Schools and Colleges. 
^ BY 

BKAINEED KELLOGG, LL.D., 

PBOFESSOB OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE ANB LITERATFBE IN THE BROOKLYN POLTTECHNIO 

IN8TITTTTE, AUTHOB OF "A TEXT-BOOK ON BHETOBIC," "A TEXT-BOOK ON ENGLISH 

LITEBATUBE," AND ONE OF THE AUTHORS OF " EEED & KELLOGG'S 

GBADED LESSONS IN ENGLISH," "hIGHEB LESSONS IN 

ENGLISH," AND " ONE-BOOK COURSE IN EiNGLISH," 

AND 



ALONZO EEED, A.M., 

AUTHOR OF "introductory LANGUAGE WOBK," " WORD LESSONS," AND ONE OF THE 

AUTHOBS OF " BEED & KELLOGG'S GBADED LESSONS IN ENGLISH," " HIGHEB 

LESSONS IN ENGLISH," AND *' ONE-BOOK COURSE IN ENGLISH." 



NEW YORK: / ^ ^"^ i V.'' 

Effingham Maynard & Co., Publishers, 

771 Broadway and 67 & 69 Ninth Street. 
1891. 



^V .4 



THE COMPLETE COURSE IN ENGLISH 
includes 
Heed's Introductory Language Work. 
Reed's Word Lessons— A Complete Speller. 
Reed & Kellogg's Graded Lessons in English. 
Reed & Kellogg's Higher Lessons in English. 
Reed & Kellogg's One-Book Course in English. 
Kellogg's Rhetoric. 
Kellogg's English Literature. 
Kellogg & Reed's English Language. 
Kellogg's Editions of Shakespeare's Plays. 
The English Classic Series. 



Copyright, 1891, by 
Brainerd Kellogg and Alonzo Reed. 



Press of J. J. Little & Co. 
Astor Place. New York 



PREFACE, 



Educated people are not agreed that it is well for the 
student to spend years in the study of Latin and Greek, 
but all agree that the English pupil should know his own 
tongue thoroughly. It is safe to say that there is a strong 
and growing inclination to give much less attention to the 
so-called classical languages^ and to concentrate attention 
upon English and other modern languages, and upon the 
studies taught in English. If Latin is to be pursued at all, 
we are told that it should be because of its connection with 
our tongue, and the instruction in it should be made directly 
tributary to the pupiFs advancement in that tongue. 

Our language has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon and in the 
Latin. The Anglo-Saxon gives us our grammar and a large 
fraction of our vocabulary ; the Latin yields us a still greater 
number of words, and has modified our grammar. If, as 
Ave think, one must know something of the sources of a 
language in order to know that language critically, then no 
one can be said to be well educated in English who is unac- 
quainted with the changes which the Anglo-Saxon grammar 
and words have undergone in becoming English, and who is 
unfamiliar with the meaning, and unskilled in the handling, 
of the prolific Latin roots from which, by the aid of prefixes 
and suffixes, such hosts of English derivatives have been 
formed. 



iv Preface, 

It is in such belief that this work has been planned and 
written. It gives a brief account of the early peoples that 
occupied Britain^ and of their contributions to our vocabu- 
lary. This account is followed by a history of the two great 
conquests — the Anglo-Saxon and the Norman — and of the 
blending into our own of the tongues of these two races. 
The grammatical changes of the Anglo-Saxon noun, adjec- 
tive, pronoun, and verb, in passing into English, are detailed. 
The two great elements of our vocabulary — the Anglo-Saxon 
and the Latin — and their functions in actual use, are given 
and illustrated. Over two hundred groups of synonyms are 
carefully discriminated ; and in word-analysis and word- 
building we have dealt with at least two hundred and fifty 
of the most fruitful Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Greek roots in 
our language. The meanings of the roots, and of the pre- 
fixes and suffixes combining with them, are easily learned. 
The mastery, thus attained, of multitudes of English com- 
pounds will be of the utmost service to the pupil in his 
reading of authors and in his own composition, and justifies 
the giving of so much time and space to word-analysis and 
word-building. 

We give the decisions of usage upon a dozen or more vital 
grammatical and verbal questions yet in debate. For this 
office we have been qualifying ourselves by years of reading 
specially directed to this end. It need astonish no one that 
in almost every instance we found ourselves in open conflict 
with many critics who, during the past few years, have so 
oracularly taught us how not to say that which we have to say. 
In the more comprehensive work soon to appear — a work 
into which this, in fuller form, will enter — the verdict of 
usage on scores and scores of other mooted points will be 
reported. We have but opened the subject in this volume. 



Preface, y 

The place in the curriculum of study for which this work 
is designed is near that held by rhetoric — immediately before 
or after it^ we think ; certainly before that of English liter- 
ature. 

With one exce|)tion we need not here name the authors 
consulted in the preparation of the work. This exception is 
Professor Lounsbury. We have for years used his English 
Language as a text-book. Our debt to him of which we are 
conscious is not small ; but smaller^ doubtless^ than that of 
which we are unconscious. Especially was his book helpful 
in assigning the dates of changes spoken of in chapters 
IV.-VII. 

The proof-sheets of this work have had the careful criti- 
cism of an eminent professor in one of our largest colleges. 
His valuable suggestions have greatly aided us. 
June, 1891. 



TO THE TEACHER. 



As this book has been prepared for pupils studying Eng- 
lish in the elementary^ as well as in the advanced^ classes^ we 
suggest to the teachers using it with elementary grades that 
they read with the class all the chapters up to the tenth, 
holding the pupil only to the more essential points ; but, 
that, from this chapter on, lessons be regularly assigned. 

We are confident that teachers will find that this study 
can be made exceedingly profitable. 



THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 



CHAPTEK I. 

THE EARLY CONQUESTS AND LANGUAGES OF BRITAIN. 

I. Classification of Languages. — It goes without saying 
that the languages spoken and understood by the human 
race are not the same. A great part of our education, 
indeed, consists in learning living languages other than 
our own, in translating what is written in them into our 
own. 

But languages widely differing now may once have been 
the same. A people overcrowding its native valley or 
plateau breaks up. Migrations take place. The masses, 
moving in different directions, thereafter hold little or no 
intercourse with each other. Climates, soils, food, occupa- 
tions, henceforth differ ; and this diversity of environment 
fosters in these separated peoples differences of custom, 
spirit, and character ; and, what is specially in point, dif- 
ferences far-reaching, if not radical, in the words used by 
them. These differences become in time so marked that 
neither the languages nor the peoples speaking them are 
longer thought to be akin. And yet the relationship of 
these tongues may not be wholly lost ; resemblances may 
remain sufficient for identification. Their original same- 



2 The English Language, 

ness may be proved by the presence in them of the same 
words^ few though they be and disguised by change — a 
presence not to be accounted for by borrowing or by a com- 
mon conquest ; and it may be proved also by traces among 
them of a common grammar. These traces^, verbal and 
grammatical^ betray community of origin, and "furnish the 
basis for linguistic classification. 

Grouping the known languages with respect to these and 
other characteristics^ we have such families as the Chinese, 
the Polynesian^ the Scythian^ the Semitic, and others ; and, 
above them all in importance, that group among which the 
English is to be counted, namely : — 

II. The Indo-European Family.^ — Of this group, or family, 
there are ten members — three Asiatic and seven European. 
Seven of the ten have long been recognized, (1) The Indian, 
or Sanskrit, used in Hindostan ; (2) the Iranian, or Ancient 
and Modern Persian ; (3) the Hellenic — Ancient and Mod- 
ern Greek ; (4) the Italic, that is the Latin and its descend- 
ants ; viz., the Italian, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the 
French, the Provencal, the Eheto-Romanic, and the Wal- 
lachian ; (5) the Slavonic — preeminently the Russian ; (6) 
the Celtic, or Keltic, made up of the Cymric and the Gaelic ; 
and (7) the Teutonic, subdivided into the Gothic, the 
Scandinavian, the High German, and the Low German. 
Into the Low German the English falls. To these seven, 
recent scholars have added (8) the Lithuanian, closely 
related to the Slavonic ; (9) the Armenian ; and (10) the 
Albanian. 

These languages, now so unlike each other that until 
this century their kinship was scarcely suspected, were onee 
the same speech, spoken by a people dwelling together 
long enough to build up a respectable vocabulary and a 



The Early Conquests and Languages of Britain, 3 

common grammar. The home of this mother-tribe is a 
matter of conjecture ; until recently it was supposed to 
have been the high table-land of Eastern Persia. Modern 
surmise, mostly German, places it in Europe- — in Germany, 
in Scandinavia, in Eussia just north of the Black Sea. 
When and in what order the migrations from the old 
homestead took place is equally conjectural ; but that 
great migrations did occur, each migrating horde carrying 
along with it the parent speech, is no longer doubted. 

III. The Celts. — Of this people a word is needed as pref- 
ace to our historical sketch. The Celts occupied the 
Spanish Peninsula, Gaul when Caesar subdued it, and 
Britain when he visited it 55 and 54 B.C. The Celts in 
Britain were at this time broken into many tribes, seldom 
uniting in a common cause. They lived in houses hol- 
lowed out of the hills, built with low stone walls, thatched 
with reeds and straw, and lighted only by the door. Their 
dress was the tunic and short trousers ; their food, fruits, 
milk, flesh, and grain bruised and baked ; their arts^ such 
as the possession of earthen ware, and of war chariots, 
arrows, the sword, the spear, the battle-axe, and the small 
shield implies. They burned or buried their dead, prac- 
tised tattooing, and were largely ruled by their priests, the 
driiidSf who monopolized the learning, arrogated to them- 
selves all authority, paid no taxes, were exempt from all 
public duties, and settled all disputes, civil and criminal. 

IV. The Roman Occupation of the Island. — The Celts made 
no stout resistance to the Eomans, who under Agricola had 
by 84 A.D. conquered as far north as the Firth of Forth, 
which they joined to the river Clyde by the wall of Anto- 
ninus. They subsequently built, as additional protection 
against the Picts, the famous wall of Severus, or Hadrian^s 



4 The English Language, 

wall^ uniting the Solway and the Tyne. The Motnans did 
not attempt a thorough conquest of Britain ; but, with their 
headquarters at Eboracum, now York, held the island by a 
series of fortified posts, whose site is now mainly indicated 
by towns with names ending in Chester, cester or caster 
— forms of the Latin castra, a camp. These posts the 
Eomans connected by broad and straight military roads 
over which their legions could rapidly march. 

The Romans levied taoces on arable land, on pasture land, 
and on fruits, and exacted customs at the ports. They 
fostered agriculture, and exported grain to Rome. But 
the imperial city whose empire stretched so far, whose 
armies were largely composed of soldiers drafted from her 
subject peoples and led by generals of their own blood, was 
menaced by invading hordes, and was forced to recall her 
legions for her own defence. By 420 the soldiers had all 
left Britain, never to return, and the Celts were again free. 
But their freedom was of short duration. By the middle 
of the fifth century a more formidable invasion than the 
Roman had taken place, and a more thorough conquest 
was begun by 

V. The Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. — These peoples 
from Schleswig, Holstein, and Jutland, provinces about the 
mouths of the Elbe and north of them, were of the Low 
German branch of the Teutonic stock. They had blue 
eyes and flaxen hair, were large of frame, huge feeders, 
and most '^^ potent in potting. ^^ They were fond of advent- 
ure on land and on sea, and were fierce and cruel in battle. 
They were owners and tillers of the soil, hated cities, knew 
no king, and lived each group of related families within 
its mark, or district, which was bounded by a belt of neu- 
tral land from other ^^ farmer commonwealths.^^ Among 



The Early Conquests and Languages of Britain, 5 

them there was a sprinkling of eorls, earls^, who were men 
of nobler birth^ but enjoyed no superior legal rights. The 
homesteads of each mark clustered around the moot-hill^ 
where the whole community met to administer justice^ 
and the wise men to settle questions of peace and war and 
to frame laws. Their religion w^as pagati ; each mark 
had its fanC;, or churchy and every man was the priest of 
his own household. Their gods^ Tiw, Woden^ Thor^ and 
Frea, have given names to all but three of the days of 
our week. Our Old Nick, Old Scratch, iceird, Easter, and 
hell can be traced to other^ though minor^ deities of theirs. 

On the withdrawal of the Eoman legions from Britain^ 
the unsubdued Picts and Scots of the north attacked the 
Celts of the south, who had been Eoman subjects. Whether 
the assailed Britons detached the Angles^ Saxons^ and Jutes 
from an alliance w^ith the Picts and Scots^ and turned them 
against their former allies ; Avhether^ without having been 
in alliance, these foreigners came by invitation across the 
North Sea to help beat back these Picts and Scots ; or 
whether, lured by the fertile soil, they came uninvited, and 
on their own account, we may never know ; but it is cer- 
tain that they came, and that they came to stay. Their 
coming is of immense significance, for they became the 
basis of the English nation, and their speech the mother- 
tongue of the English language. 

The flutes f we are told by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 
came over under Hengist and Horsa in 449, and settled in 
Kent. Ella and his followers, in 477, and Cerdic with 
his, in 495, settled Sussex in the south and Wessex in the 
west, and later Saxons founded Essex. The ending sex 
would of itself suggest the origin of these kingdoms. 
Three kingdoms north of Thames — the largest of which. 



6 The English Language. 

Northumbrian stretched from the Humber to the Forth — 
were founded by the Angles. Besides this^ East Anglia 
and Mercia were established. 

The conquest of the Celts by these Low German invad- 
ers—that of a Christian people by a pagan, it may be 
noticed — proceeded slowly, and in 520 came to a halt 
which lasted fifty years. It was then resumed, and by 
607 the unexterminated Britons had taken refuge in the 
western part of the island. And now for more than two 
hundred years the conquerors waged fierce war upon one 
another. The seven kingdoms^ for war begat the king, 
contended for the overlordship, till in 827 Wessex secured 
it, the Heptarchy became a Monarchy, and Egbert ruled 
from the English Channel to the Firth of Forth. 

Meanwhile the invaders had been Christianized , Augus- 
tine and his missionaries arriving from Eome in 597. The 
Christian temple rose on the site of the pagan fane. By 
the end of the seventh century, the Church was a single 
organization in spite of the division of the island into 
warring kingdoms. As population increased, the marks 
coalesced and became shires^ of which in Alfred^s time 
there were thirty-two, each with its organization, religious, 
legal, and political. 

VI. The Danish Conquest. — The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 
relates that in 787 the Danes, as all Northmen, or Scandi- 
navians, at this time were called, began their invasions. 
Sweeping up the great rivers that pour their waters into 
the North Sea, they laid waste the territory adjacent, 
harried and killed the inhabitants, and settled as they 
conquered. The very verb harry is Anglo-Saxon, derived 
from their name for the dreaded Danish army — here. 
What terror this army inspired may be gathered from the 



The Early Conquests and Languages of Britain, 7 

fact that this prayer made its way into the Anglo-Saxon 
litany : ^^ From the incursions oi the Northmen^ good 
Lord, deliyer us/^ 

These Scandinavians were beaten in great battles, and 
driven back only to return. They were bought off with 
gold ; and finally, on condition that they would confine 
themselves within it, they were given the territory to the 
east and north-east of Watling Street^ an old Eoman mil- 
itary road, which stretched from near Dover through Lon- 
don to Chester on the Dee. But they could not be kept 
within the limits of this territory, called the Danelagh^ 
and at last succeeded in placing four kings in succession 
on the throne — Sweyn, Canute, Harold Haref oot, and 
Hardicanute, 1013-1042. 

VIL The Languages Spoken on the Island. — The uncon- 
quered Celts, or Kelts, of the west and north spoke their 
own tongue, of course, the Celtic, or Keltic. That of the 
conquered portion was overwhelmingly the language of the 
conquerors, and was called the Anglo-Saxon. But it 
was not quite pure ; some few Celtic words had entered it. 
The Celtic names for the rivers, lakes, hills, and moun- 
tains clung fast to these objects, and are found in English 
even now. 

Isaac Taylor in Words and Places says, ^^ Throughout 
the whole of England there is hardly a single river-name 
which is not Celtic."^ Avon, Celtic for water, is the name 
of fourteen English rivers to-day. Esic, meaning the same 
thing, designates more than twenty. It has entered into 
the names of towns also, as in ^;2;eter, ^a;minster, Oa:ford, 
and UxhuidigQ, Thames, Humier, Wye, Cam, Ouse, and many 
other river-names are Celtic. Pen or Ben, the usual Celtic 
name for a mountain, is seen in the name for the range 



8 The Englisli Language, 

called PeT^nine, in that of the hills called Pe^tland^ in Ben- 
Nevis, and 567^-Lomond. Dun, a hill-fortress, is found in 
\jovidon, Z^wmbarton, Dundee, etc. Scores, even hundreds, 
of other Celtic words can be found on almost any map of 
England; and, indeed, as Taylor claims, on the maps of 
Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. Besides these 
geographical terms it is said that the common words 

Clout, crock, cradle, cart, down, pillow, barrow, glen, havoc, kiln, 
mattock, and pool 

came into the Anglo-Saxon before the Norman Conquest. 
As other Celtic words appeared later, we will call all these, 
whether geographical or other, entering the Anglo-Saxon 
and continued into English, the Celtic^ or Keltic^ of the 
First JPeriod, 

But in the Celtic vocabulary foreign words had found a 
lodgment. The Eomans held most of the island for hun- 
dreds of years. Many of their words filtered down into the 
speech of the subject Celts. Some of these, seven it is said, 
all geographical but two, forced their way up into the lan- 
guage of the Anglo-Saxon conquerors. Casfra, a camp, 
appears in the names of towns ending in Chester, caster, 
^nd cester; as, Msmchester, 'Ln.ncaster, smdheicester; strata, 
paved streets, in Stratford, Streath^m, etc. ; colonia, a set- 
tlement, in lAncoln and Colne ; fossa, a trench, in Foss- 
way and i^o^bridge ; portus, a harbor, in Por^^mouth and 
^vidport ; vallum, a rampart, in tvall ; and mile. These 
seven now in English we call Latin of the First Feriod. 

But, as we have said, the heathen Anglo-Saxons were 
Christianized. Hosts of Fofnan words^ some of which 
were derived from the Greek, the language of the New Tes- 
tament and of the early Christians, came in tvith, or fol- 



The Early Conquests and Languages of Britain. 9 

lowed in the wake of, the Christian Churchy whose services, 
were conducted in Latin. Presbyter, originally an elder, 
apostolus, one sent, clericus, one ordained, and episcopus, an 
overseer, taking the forms in Anglo-Saxon of preost, postol, 
clerc, and iiscop, and, in English, of priest, apostle, clerk, 
and bishop ; and such words as cheese, pound, candle, table, 
and marble illustrate these acquisitions. 

Sometimes after naturalization these words combined 
with the Anglo-Saxon, as in sealm-boc, our psalm-booh. 
Sometimes they took Anglo-Saxon endings. Monachus 
becoming munuc, monk, added had and formed an abstract. 
To this same munuc, lie, our lihe, was annexed, and an 
adjective was created ; lice, and a new adverb appeared. 
The Latin missa (est), changed to Anglo-Saxon mcesse, 
mass, took the infinitive ending, and became mcessian, 
to say mass ; and prcedicare turned into predician^ our 
preach. 

Of the Latin words brought into Anglo-Saxon by the 
Church, or following in its wake, there were before the 
]S"orman Conquest at least six hundred, it is thought ; if 
compounds are counted, three or four times as many. These 
are styled the Latin of the Second Period. 

The Danish Conquest introduced Scandiftavian terms* 
Taylor says that in the east of England, most of them 
in the 'Danelagh, there are six hundred places whose 
names end in by, Scandinavian for town. This, seen in 
'Rwgby, Grimsby, in one hundred names in Lincolnshire 
alone, is in our 5^-law and in hy-the-bye, TJiorp, or torj:), 
German dorf, a village, is found in Althorpe and Wihtrop ; 
thwaite, a clearing, in Finsthwaite and Braithwaite ; ness, 
a nose or cape, in Sheer?ze^,§ and Caith?^^^^; wic, a creek or 
bay, in W7ciham, ^orivich, and in viking ; toft, a home- 



10 The English Language, 

stead, in Lowestoft and Totness ; and garth, a yard, in 
Aipiplegarth and Fishguard. All these and beck, a brook ; 
force, a waterfall ; dale, German thai, a valley ; and holm, 
an island, existing as separate words or in composition, and 
entering before the Norman Conquest, we call Scandi^ 
navian of the First JPeriod, 

VIII. Anglo-Saxon Literature. — The prose consists chiefly 
of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Alfred^s rendering of Bedels 
Ecclesiastical History of the Angles and Saxofis and of 
Boethius^s De Consolatione Philosophice, Homilies, and 
Translations of the Gospels, and the Laws of ^thelbirht 
and Alfred ; the poetry is found mainly in Beowulf (the 
Anglo-Saxon Iliad), such fragments as the Traveller's Song 
and the Fight at Finnshurg, Caedmon^'s Bible Epics, Cyne- 
wulf s Christ and Elene, the Harrowing of Hell, some 
psalms and hymns and secular lyrics. 

The poetry is rhythmical. Each line is broken into two 
sections ; each section, March thinks, with four rhythm 
accents. It is characterized by alliteration^ the perfect 
line haying three alliterating syllables — two in the first 
section and one in the second. 

Anglo-Saxon poetry, hardly thirty thousand lines in all, 
has been preserved in part in two manuscripts — the Exeter 
Book and the Vercelli Book — the latter found in 1832, in 
Italy. 

Considered as literature, Anglo-Saxon prose and poetry 
are interesting chiefly to the student, and have had little 
influence on English writers ; looked at lexically and gram- 
matically^ they are invaluable. 

The glorious period of the Anglo-Saxons was Alfred^s 
reign, 871-901; their decline in art and in arms begins soon 
after. '^ The specific causes of their decay we are unable to 



The Early Conquests and Languages of Britain. 11 

assign/^ says George P. Marshy ^^but it is evident that , . . 
the people and their literature were in a state of languish- 
ing depression which was enlivened and cheered by no 
symptoms of returning life and vigor. '^ The downfall of 
the Saxon Commonwealth was not caused, only hastened, 
by the Iformans. 



CHAPTER 11. 

THE NOKMAN CONQUEST AND THE NEW TONGUE. 

IX. The Norman Conquest. — The Normans^ or North- 
men^ were originally of the Norse, or Scandinavian, branch 
of the Teutonic race. " They were jnen of action^ enter- 
prising merchants, navigators, soldiers of fortune, leading 
the van of every battle from Norway to Byzantium. ^^ Break- 
ing from the restraints of a power that was consolidating 
the Scandinavian kingdoms, they boldly ventured forth, 
conquered the Shetland Isles, the Orkneys, and the Heb- 
rides, founded the kingdom of Caithness in Scotland, 
settled Iceland, discovered Greenland, and colonized Vin- 
land, supposed to be on the coast of New-England. 

In 911, Molf^ or EoUo, the Ganger, with his band of 
vikings, got a footing in the fertile valley of the Seine. 
This province of Normandy he received as a fief from Charles 
the Simple, became his vassal with the title of duke, and 
married his daughter. The Normans were brought under 
French law and customs, became Christians, adopted the 
French language, married into French families, and caught 
the French spirit. 

In 1066, the childless Edward the Confessor died, and 
Harold, his brother-in-law, succeeded him. But William^ 
seventh Duke of Normandy, whose aunt, Emma, had been 
married to Ethelred II. of England, claimed the throne by 
hereditary right and by the promise of both Edward and 



The Norman Conquest and the New Tongue, 13 

Harold^ and set sail with thirty thousand followers for the 
coast of England. On October 14, 1066, he met and 
defeated Harold on the slope of Senlac, near Hastings, 
and soon after was crowned king at Westminster. This was 
the only conquest — and British soil has throbbed to the 
'' drums and tramplings ^' of four — that reached down to 
the people of the island and in time thoroughly leavened 
them. But the admixture of new blood and another spirit 
with theirs proved the most signal blessing that ever befell 
them. We can call it no less than their regeneration. It 
made the English nation of to-day, the English language, 
and the English literature. 

To his Teutonic ancestry the modern Englishman 
otves his love of justice and fair play, his honesty, his 
religious nature, his physical robustness and intellectual 
sturdiness, his doggedness of purpose, his strong good 
sense, his love of liberty, his fondness for facts, and his 
firm grip upon the real. To his French lineage — and we 
must remember that, though originally Teutonic, the Ger- 
mans had been metamorphosed by their life in France ; and 
that, though many of French extraction accompanied Wil- 
liam the Conqueror, they were to those who followed after 
but as the prologue to the play — the modern Englishman 
otves his manner, his tact, his sense of proportion, his 
genius for administration, his poetic skill, and his artistic 
nature. In him the two races have blended most happily, 
forming a composite better than either component, greater 
even than both elements while separated. 

The changes which Anglo-Saxon underwent because of 
this conquest are vital, we will say fundamental; they 
amount to a revolution. A change of name is needed to 
mark this. We have purposely refrained from calling the 



14 The English Language. 

dominant people of the island^ or their speech, before 1066, 
by any other term than Anglo- Saxon. But after the anion 
of the peoples and of the languages, a new word is needed to 
denote new things ; and this term we have in the word 
English. As we use it, English denotes always the race 
resulting from the marriage of the two peoples, or the speech 
resulting from the union of the two tongues. 

X. The Two Peoples Side by Side. — But we must guard 
against supposing that either the two peoples or the two 
tongues were welded into one instantaneously. They grew 
together, and this growth was slow. 

Any yoke of conquest would be galling to the liberty- 
loving Anglo-Saxons, but there are special reasons why this 
was so. The conqueror was of alien blood ; and national 
animosity existed between him and the conquered. Wil- 
liam^s conquest was ruthless, especially in the north. He 
ravaged the country, destroyed harvests, cattle, the very 
implements of husbandry, burned town and village, and slew 
the inhabitants or drove them across the border. He con- 
fiscated the entire soil. He parceled out the land, upon 
condition of military service, among a score or more of 
great vassals, among some hundreds of inferior crown-vas- 
sals, and among the higher clergy. ^^ The meanest Nor- 
man rose to wealth and power in the new dominion of the 
Duke.^^ By this establishment of a modified feudal system, 
the mass of the population were reduced to a species of serf- 
dom, became mere tillers of the soil. Shoals of Norman 
ecclesiastics came across the Channel, and the people were 
forced to receive even religious consolation from foreigners. 
Another language than their own prevailed in all places of 
authority — in the palace and among the nobility, in law 
courts, in the schools. To their painful consciousness of 



The Norman Conquest and the Netv Tongue, 15 

social and political degradation was added their keen sense 
of the scorn with which the Norman regarded their lack of 
culture and their ^^ barbarous tongue/^ 

But the influences operative through all these years were 
not wholly those of repulsion. These two peoples living 
together had to meet each other in the field and in the 
town. They were forced to buy of each other and to sell to 
each other. Time could not but temper the arrogance of 
the one^ and qualify the sullen moroseness of the other. The 
subject race gradually acquired definite rights. The service 
which the serf rendered became limited^ and could be com- 
muted for payments of money. The possession of his hut 
and of the plat of ground around it^ and his privilege of 
turning a few cattle out on the waste land of the manor,, 
changed from indulgences into rights that could be pleaded 
at law. The serf was struggling to become a copyholder, 
and the copyholder to be a freeholder. The military power 
of the nobles waned. The courts of the feudal baronage 
were shorn of their power. The feudal system was giving 
way. The Anglo-Saxons were improving in education as 
well as in material things. They and the Normans inter- 
married. 

A strong national feeling was springing up before which 
their mutual antagonism was yielding. This feeling was 
aided by the fact that the English kings had vast possessions 
in France, partly hereditary and partly acquired by mar- 
riage. To hold these against the French kings required a 
united people, a people made one by the strong sentiment of 
nationality. And to make head against the encroachments 
of their own kings the nobility were forced to make common 
cause with the people. To what extent the barons identified 
the cause of the commons with their own may be seen from 



16 The English Language, 

the celebrated provisions of the Great Charter extorted from 
King John in 1215. 

XI. The Two Languages Side by Side. — For a long while 
after the Conqnest there existed in England the strange 
spectacle of two* languages declining to coalesce and yet 
spoken by two peoples living together. [N^either language 
would yield to the other, neither people would learn that of 
the other. How little these two tongues had blended in the 
vocabulary of writers, at least, may be seen when we say 
that Layamon^s Brut, a poem of thirty-two thousand lines, 
written in 1205, does not contain a hundred and fifty French 
words ; and that in the Orinuliim, a poem of twenty thou- 
sand lines, appearing in the year of Magna Chart a ^ scarcely 
fifty French words are found. 

But during this period the difficiilties in the way of a 
coalescence were gradually lessening. Such of these as might 
be called political we have spoken of in the preceding sec- 
tion. Of those difficulties more properly linguistic we will 
here say a word. 

This period was for the subject race one of great and 
general depression. Very little literature was produced by 
them, and that little of an indifferent quality. Their speech 
was no longer cultivated. The standards in it were all for- 
gotten. Anglo-Saxon was no longer taught in schools, 
spoken at the palace and in the castles of the nobles, or 
used in courts of law. Few were writing in it. It was 
left in the care, if care it can be called, of those ignorant of 
the literature in it and of its grammar, and familiar only 
with the vocabulary employed in colloquial speech upon the 
commonplace topics of the household, the farm, the street. 

The effect of all this upon the language can easily be in- 
ferred. A large fraction of the vocabulary, the more digni- 



The Norman Conquest and the Neiv Tongue, 17 

fied and scholarly portion^ fell into neglect and then into 
oblivion. Of the words kept in circulation, so much of each 
as we call its grammatical inflections, denoting case, person, 
number, tense, almost entirely perished. These inflections 
would be retained only by those aware of their importance ; 
they sloughed off as the words dropped from the tongues of 
those ignorant of it. When, then, this Anglo-Saxon speech 
had forced itself upon the J^ormans, as it fairly succeeded in 
doing by the second half of the fourteenth century^ it was far 
easier to master than it would have been immediately after 
1066. It is estimated that nearly one-half of the words in 
the vocabulary before the Conquest dropped out of it in the 
three hundred years immediately following, and we certainly 
know that the grammar had been vastly simplified. With 
one-half of its words lost, and the remaining half nearly 
flectionless, the work of learning the language was made easy 
for the Norman. 

We said that by 1350 the conquered had forced their 
tongue upon their conquerors. Let us dwell upon this fact, 
for it was a signal achievement and of far-reaching conse- 
quences. We have it upon the authority of John of Trevisa, 
that, after the great pestilence of 1349, the instruction of 
youth was revolutionized. John Cornwall changed the in- 
struction in the grammar-school from French into English, 
and Eichard Pencrich and others followed his lead, so that 
in 1385 in all the grammar-schools of England the chil- 
dren had abandoned French and were taught in English. 
In 1362 French was exchanged for English in the' courts of 
law. An act of Parliament was passed in this year, ordering 
that in all the courts ''all pleas . . . shall be pleaded, 
shewed, defended, answered, debated, and judged in the 
English tongue.^'' Great writers had now arisen — Wyclif, 
2 



18 The English Language. 

1324-1384, in prose ; Chaucer, 1340-1400, in poetry. They 
wrote in English, and their influence upon the plastic lan- 
guage of their time, and upon all English writers succeeding, 
is simply incalculable. 

We may add that the adoption of Anglo-Saxon by the S'or- 
man was greatly facilitated by the fact that the French he 
tvas using had become sadly corrupt. That which he 
brought over from the Continent was not the French of Paris, 
but the degenerate tongue of Normandy, and so at best was 
provincial, a mere patois. But during the centuries of its use 
in England it had been kept from free contact with the dia- 
lect of Xormandy, and so had deteriorated even from this 
imperfect standard — had become, as Lounsbury aptly puts it, 
a mere patois of Si patois. The l^orman himself had grown 
ashamed of it, and was not unwilling to part with it. 

XII. The New Tongue — its Composition. — When now we 
say that by 1400, and even earlier, English was generally 
used, Avhat are we really saying ? What do we mean b}^ Eng- 
lish? Just what in Section IX. we said we should mean 
when we applied the term to a language. We mean a speech 
not in existence by itself till long after the N'orman Conquest; 
a speech neither Anglo-Saxon nor French, but Anglo-Saooon 
and French ; a speech to which both of these contributed, 
to form which both of these were combined. For the adop- 
tion of words was not all done by the l^orman. While he 
borrowed many from the Saxon, the Saxon borrowed some 
from the Norman. What by mutual giving and taking the 
two jointly formed is the English, a compromise, a com- 
pound ; one speech after the union, but not univocal, not 
all of a piece, every speaker of which is bilingual. 

We have hitherto called the tongue brought over by the 
Conqueror Norinan-French. But it is time now to say 



The Norman Conquest and the New Tongue, 19 

that in reality it was Latin, Just before the Christian era 
Julius Caesar subdued the people then in possession of what 
is now France^ and imposed uj)on them his language, which 
was that of Rome. This language, used for a thousand 
years by a people to whom it was not the mother-tongue, the 
Xormans, of still another alien stock, acquired, and brought 
into England. Spoken a whole millennium by those whose 
Yernacular it displaced, and from them learned by strangers, 
the words had lost much of their original form and mean- 
ing. Outwardly they were almost inyariably shoHened. By 
a dropping of vowels or consonants, or of both, two or three 
syllables had been squeezed into one ; as, French sur, our 
sure, from original Latin securus ; French regie, our rule, 
from Latin regula; French He, English isle, from insula. 
And sometimes the final and unaccented syllable or syllables 
seem not to have been caught by the subject Gaul ; or, if 
caught by his ear, were not retained on his tongue. The 
Latin domina, for instance, apj^ears in French as the trun- 
cated dame ; medius, as midi ; and malum, as mal. Still, 
though changed, the French words are Latin ; their essen- 
tial identity with the words used by the countrymen of 
Horace and Virgil is easily seen. 

We spoke in Section A^II. of the Celtic and of the Scandi- 
navian of the First Period, and of the Latin of the First and 
Second Periods — words from these languages taken up by 
the Anglo-Saxon and carried on into English. Here we 
add that these Xorman words, introduced in the centuries 
succeeding the Conquest, and entering into union with the 
Anglo-Saxon to form the English, constitute the Latin of 
the Third JPeriod. 

But as the original Celtic of Britain had Latin words in it, 
so this Latin of the Xormans had Celtic words in it. The 



20 The Englisli Language, 

Gauls themselves were Celts ; and it could not be that, when 
forced to adopt the Latin tongue, they would surrender 
every word of their own speech. Indeed, in the province of 
Brittany the native tongue was not exterminated, and, as 
Breton, still survives. The Celtic words brought into Eng- 
lish by the incoming of the Normans constitute the Celtic 
of the Second Teriod. A few of these words are : — 

Baggage, bar, barrel, basin, button, carry, pottage, truant, varlet, 
and vassal. 

Whatever Celtic words have been admitted into English 
since, whether Irish, Welsh, Gaelic, or Breton — and 

Clan, claymore, flimsy, kern, pibroch, plaid, spalpeen, and whiskey 

are samples of these — constitute the Celtic of the Third 
Period, Whatever Scandinavian words have come into 
English since the Norman Conquest, and, according to Pro- 
fessor Skeat, their name is legion, such as. 

Are, call, drag, gabble, grab, gravy, hap, hinge, hurry, lug, lunch, 
pod, ransack, sag, scratch, scream, shirt, snug, stutter, teem, whim, 
and whisk, 

we call Scandinavian of the Second Teriod, 

The Norman-Erench words in English were largely spoken 
words — words dropping from the tongue, and learned by 
the ear, both in Erance and afterward in England. But 
there was another large influx of Latin words conse- 
quent upon that great quickening of European mind known 
as the Renaissance, or Kevival of Learning, the first waves 
of which touched English shores about the opening of the 
sixteenth century. The iN'ew Learning, as the historian 
Green calls it, and the new ideas to which it gave birth, 
demanded new words ; and from 1550 to 1660^ Latin was the 



The Norman Conquest and the Neiv Tongue. 21 

store on which writers began to draw. But the Latin of 
these learned men was the Latin of the eye and the pen^, 
taken directly from Latin literature ; or, if from French as 
well, it was from French books, and was not that spoken 
by the people. The Latin words thus transferred to Eng- 
lish had suffered then, and have suffered since, little or no 
change, and may readily be distinguished from the Latin 
of the Third Period by their fuller form. These Latin 
words, brought in to meet the needs of scholars — and their 
coming has not yet wholly ceased — are called the Latin of 
the Fourth JPeriocl. 

Greek has a very respectable contingent in English — five 
per cent, of the whole vocabulary. Trench estimates. Perhaps 
half this number would be a better guess. They are largely 
scientific and technical, mostly ''inkhorn^^ terms, rarely on 
the tongue in conversation. They are such as : — 

Amphibious, anachronism, anodyne, barometer, blaspheme, catarrh, 
catastrophe, cynosure, decagon, dilemma, doxology, electric, exegesis, 
glossary, heliocentric, heterodox, hydrophobia, hyperbole, hypote- 
nuse, idiom, isosceles, labyrinth, lexicon, mechanic, metamorphosis, 
monosyllable, necrology, octagon, oxygen, phenomenon, phrenology, 
polemical, rhetoric, sporadic, squirrel, surgeon, synonym, telegraph, 
telephone, thermometer, therapeutic, trophy, tyrant, zone, and zoology. 

From the Hebrew, we have such words as : — 

Amen, bedlam, cabal, cherub, cinnamon, hallelujah, hosannah, Je- 
hovah, jubilee, manna, sabbath, Satan, seraph, shekel, and shibboleth. 

The English race has penetrated all seas, and has had 

intercourse, commercial, literary, or other, with the peoples 

of all lands. From most of these it has brought home 

words which it has naturalized and made good English. 

From the Italian^ we have imported such words as : — 

Alarm, bagatelle, balcony, balustrade, bankrupt, bust, canto, citadel, 



22 The English Language, 

concert, contraband, cupola, ditto, duet, gondola, granite, guitar, 
influenza, lagoon, lava, madrigal, malaria, motto, mustache, niche, 
opera, pantaloon, pedant, piano, pistol, portico, quota, regatta, 
ruffian, serenade, sonnet, soprano, stanza, studio, tirade, trio, trom- 
bone, umbrella, vista, and volcano. 

From the SpanisJi^ such words as : — 

Armada, barricade, booby, bravado, buffalo, capsize, cargo, cask, 
cigar, comrade, cork, Creole, embargo, flotilla, indigo, merino, mos- 
quito, mulatto, negro, renegade, savanna, sherry, tornado, and vanilla. 

From the JPorttiguese^ such as : — 

Caste, cocoa-nut, commodore, fetich, lasso, molasses, palaver, and 
tank. 

From the Dutch^ such as : — 

Aloof, ballast, bluff, boor, brackish, brandy, bumpkin, clinker, dap- 
per, elope, fop, gas, growl, holster, hustle, jeer, knapsack, landscape, 
loiter, laff, measles, morass, mumps, ogle, rant, reef, skates, skipper, 
sloop, smuggle, wagon, yacht, and yawl. 

From the German^ such as : — 

Dutch, feldspar, huzzah, loafer, meerschaum, nickel, plunder, 
poodle, quartz, swindler, trull, and zinc. 

From the Slavonic^ such as : — 

Calash, czar, knout, polka, sable, slave, and steppe. 

From the Persian^ such as : — 

Bazaar, caravan, check, checkers, chess, divan, ghoul, hazard, horde, 
jackal, jar, lemon, lilac, mummy, musk, orange, rice, sash, shawl, and 
veranda. 

From, the Hindu^ such as : — 

Banyan, calico, chintz, jungle, loot, pagoda, palanquin, sepoy, 
shampoo, sugar, and toddy. 

From the Turkish^ such as : — 
Bey, janissary, ottoman, and tulip. 



The Norman Conquest and the New Tongue. 23 

From the Malay ^ such as : — 

Bamboo, bantam, caddy, gong, gutta-percha, mango, orang-outang, 
rattan, rum, and sago. 

From the Polynesian^ such as : — 
Boomerang, kangaroo, taboo, and tattoo. 

From the Chinese^ such as : — 

China, junk, nankeen, serge, silk, tea, and typhoon. 

From the Arabic^ such as : — 

Alcohol, algebra, alkali, amber, azure, candy, carat, chemistry, cipher, 
coffee, cotton, crimson, elixir, Hegira, gazelle, Koran, magazine, mat- 
tress, minaret, Moslem, myrrh, nadir, sherbet, sofa. Sultan, tariff, 
zenith, and zero. 

From the North American Indian, such as : — 
Hominy, moccasin, moose, raccoon, skunk, squaw, tomahawk, and 
wigwam. 

From the West Indian, such as : — 

Buccaneer, cannibal, canoe, hammock, hurricane, maize, potato, and 
tobacco. 

We might instance words in English from South Ameri- 
can languages^ and even from African, but we forbear. 

But, after all, the great component elements of English 
are the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin — the Latin mostly that 
of the Third and Fourth Periods, of course. Our work for 
some time to come must be with these. 

It is from the Anglo-Saxon that the English derives all 
the grammar it has. This mother-tongue of English is the 
Joseph^s sheaf to which all other sheaves in the field bow in 
obeisance. We cannot, then, give the history of the lan- 
guage without noting the changes which this element has 
undergone and has compelled. 



24 



The English Language, 



o 

P^ 

m 
Q 
P^ 
o 

o 

Q 

o 

Ph 

o 
o 



pp 

o 

o 
!> 

I— I 



1. Anglo-Saxon. 



2. Latin. 



Of the First Period. 
Of the Second Period. 
Of the Third Period. 
^ Of the Fourth Period. 



3. Greek. 



4. IndO' European. 



( Of the First Period. 

5. Celtic \of the Second Period. 

( Of the Third Period. 



6. Scandinavian 



7. Hebrew. 



j Of the First Period. 
" (Of the Second Period. 



Such Other Lan* 
guages as 



the Italian, the Spanish;, the 
Portuguese (these three Latin in 
origin), the Dutch, the German, 
the Slavonic^ the Persian^ the 
Hindu, the Turkish, the Ma» 
lay, the Polynesian, the Chi' 
nese, the Arabic, the North 
American Indian, and the 
West Indian. 



CHAPTEE III. 

OETHOGRAPHICAL CHAXGES OF AXGLO-SAXOK WORDS IX 
BECOMING EXGLISH. 

XIII. The Alphabet. — 1. Its Characters. — Three Anglo- 
Saxon characters never came into English. Theoretically^ 
our th in thin stands for the firsts and ih in thine for the 
second : though^ with certain exceptions^ Professor Sweet 
pronounces both the Anglo- Saxon characters alike^, and Pro- 
fessor March a-ssures us that in no Anglo-Saxon manuscript 
are they uniformly discriminated. The Anglo-Saxon charac- 
ter for which we have substituted iu never appears in Eng- 
lish ; many editors use w for it in their Anglo-Saxon texts. 

The English has added to the Anglo-Saxon alphabet, the 
letters /, v, and z, and the superfluous h and q. AVe have 
combined c with h, as in choose : s with h. as in shame ; and, 
as shown above, t with h, as in thin^ and t with h, as in tliine 
— each of the four combinations representing a single sound. 

2. The Sounds of the Voivels. — The Anglo-Saxon vowels 
were pronounced nearly as are the German. In coming 
into English, these sounds were modified ; and, what is 
especially noticeable, others were added — a, for instance, 
now representing six sounds. 

3. The Consonants and their Combinations. — The 
Anglo-Saxon consonants in English retain nearly their old 
sounds. But their / medial and final had the sound of v, 
ours never except in of. The Anglo-Saxons took delight in 



26 The English Language. 

combining c and n^ and h and t, as in cniht (the h a gut- 
tural, as in German) ; n and g^ as in singan ; c and ^, as in 
licgan ; h and ^, as in hnlgan ; h and I, as in hldford ; h 
and r, as in hring ; w and r, as in ivrltan ; and ^(; and I, as 
in tolltan. Then they pronounced both consonants of the 
combination ! We owe it to the Normans that we are not 
called upon to attempt these difficult feats. Living in 
France for generations, they came to dislike all such sounds, 
especially the gutturals, made far back in the mouth. They 
could not or would not utter them, and so have saved us 
the necessity. This they accomplished (1) by dropping the 
guttural, as^ from genoh snidfugol, — our enough and fowl; 
(2) by changing the guttural to another letter, — hdlig becom- 
ing holy ; (3) by running the two sounds into one, — the n and 
g in singan having but one sound, as in sing ; (4) by allow- 
ing the guttural to remain, but making it a mute, — liht pro- 
nounced lit J (5) by softening the guttural into a palatal, — 
biycg becoming bridge; and (6) by labializing the guttural, 
and adding a vowel sound to aid pronunciation, — sorg chang- 
ing to our sorrow. 

Of ghf Meiklejohn has this humorous account : ^^ Our 
Saxon scribes wrote not light, might, and night, but liht, 
miht, and niht. When, however, they found that the Nor- 
man-French gentlemen would not sound the h and say---as is 
still said in Scotland — U*ch^, etc., they redoubled the guttural, 
strengthened the h with a hard g, and again presented the 
dose to the Norman. But, if the Norman could not sound 
the h alone, still less could he sound the double guttural ; 
and he very coolly let both alone. . . . And so it came to 
pass that we have the symbol gh in more than seventy of 
our words, and that in most of these we do not sound it at 
all.^' 



Orthographical Changes of Anglo-Saxon Words, 27 

Gh final and even medial we sometimes pronounce as /;. 
as in^ cough, enough, and draught. 

To the Anglo-Saxon h sound of c, as in cyning, we have, 
through Norman-French influence, added the s sound, as in 
city ; to their hard sound of g, as in our give, we have added 
the / sound, as in gin. 

XIV. Other Changes in Sounds and in Orthography. — The 
changes just spoken of are fitly treated under another head, 
but they partly illustrate orthographical changes. Anglo- 
Saxon a is found in English as o or oe or oa, — ham, da, 
and dc are our home, doe, and oak. Frequently, e appears 
as ee J o, as oo ; y, as short i; and y, as long i,—fet and 
ges are our feet and geese ; god and stol are our good and 
stool; syn and dym are sin and dim; and fyr and hyd 
are fire and Ai6?6. Anglo-Saxon u appears in English regu- 
larly as ou or oiv, — hUs, ut, and scur are our house, out, 
and shower. 

Our -?(; and our th in ^Am and ^;^^^6 excluded, as was said, 
the Anglo-Saxon characters. Initial/ in Anglo-Saxon often 
appears in English as v, — fatu and fers as vats and verse ; 
final / in the singular of nouns often is v in the English 
plural, — wulf has wolves ; f between two vowels is v, — efese 
and efen are our eaves and even. Our/ sometimes takes the 
place of Anglo-Saxon i, — Judea for ludea. Our ch and h 
are occasionally substituted for Anglo-Saxon c, — church and 
cheese for cyrice and cyse, and hing, hiss, and Tcnight for 
cyning, coss, and c;^^A^. Anglo-Saxon c?^; appears in Eng- 
lish as qu, — cwic, ciuen, and cwelan becoming quicTc, queen, 
and quell. Their 5C is our sh, — scip, sclr, seep, and fisc 
turning into ship, shire, sheep, and fish. Their g often 
becomes our y, — gear^ ge, geoc, and geong appearing as year, 
ye, yoke, and young. Initial h before I, n, and r is dropped. 



28 The English Language. 

— hldf, hnut, and hring turning into loaf, nut, and ring. 
Initial hw always changes to our ^oh, though the h breathing 
precedes the w sounds — hwlt, hwylc, and hwml becoming 
white, which, and lohale. The consonant r sometimes changes 
place with the vowel preceding, — irid and urn appearing as 
iird and run. 



CHAPTEK IV. 

GEAMMATICAL CHA:N"GES OF THE ANGLO-SAXON IN BECOM- 
ING ENGLISH. — THE NOUN. 

XV. Changes in the Declension. — There were two Declen- 
sions in the Anglo-Saxon^ each running through four cases 
and two numbers — the A^owel^, or Strong, Declension, and 
the Consonant, or Weak. We give, below, the case-endings 
in both numbers of these declensions. 



THE STRONG, OR VOWEL, DECLENSION. 

Singular. Plural. 



Masculine. Feminine. Neuter. 



Nam. 



u. 



e. 



Gen. es, es. e^ e, e, es, es. 
Dat, e^ e, e, e^ e, e, e. 



Neuter. 
~9 



Masculine. Fenninine. 

as, a^ — f a, — , u, 
a, ena, a^ a. a, a. 
uin. imifUmfiitn, untfUni. 
fis. a, — , a. — ^ ?/. 



THE WEAK, OR CONSONANT, DECLENSION. 

Singular. Plural. 



M 


asculine. 


Feminine. 


Neuter. 


M 


asculine. 


Feminine. 


Neuter. 


Nam. 


a. 


e. 


e. 




an. 


an. 


an. 


Gen. 


an. 


an. 


an. 




ena. 


ena. 


ena. 


Dat. 


an. 


aft. 


an. 




tint. 


tint. 


inn. 


Ace. 


an. 


an. 


e. 




an. 


an. 


an. 



1. Change of the uin Ending. — Even before the Con- 
quest om, seen to-day in our whilom and seldom (nouns in 



30 The English Language. 

Anglo-Saxon), had begun to displace the dative plural end- 
ing um. Later, on took the place of this om. 

2. Change of the Vowels of the Endings to e. — A 

sweeping change, begun before the Conquest, advancing 
rapidly after it, and completed by the end of the twelfth cen- 
tury, was the weakening of the other vowels of the endings 
to e. After um had become om, and then on, and by this 
further change en, and after the ena of the genitive plural 
had conformed to the nominative and accusative, this level- 
ing of the vowels to e would reduce the endings of the vowel 
declension to e and es, and those of the consonant to e and 
en, 

3. The Dropping of Final n a^id of the Final e. — 
The sloughing off of final n, begun before the Conquest, 
checked for a while, and resumed after the Conquest, followed 
the changes already spoken of. When completed, and few 
are found in Chaucer, the endings left in both declensions 
are ^ and es only. And now this e final, seldom pronounced 
as a distinct syllable, disappeared from the orthography as 
well as from pronunciation. At its disappearance, had there 
been no adoption from the French nor any extension of 
forms already in Anglo-Saxon, the English noun would be 
even more destitute of case and number endings than it is. 
There was no adoption, but there was an extension. This 
was accomplished by 

4. The Influence of the Masculine and Neuter Gen^ 
ders of the Vowel Declension. — The masculine, as seen 
above, had, in the nominative and accusative plural, the 
ending as ; and both genders had, in the genitive singular, 
the ending es. And these two cases of the masculine plural 
and this one case of the masculine and neuter singular, in 
only one of the two declensions, had authority sufficient to 



Orammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon. — The Noun, 31 

extend their inflections to the other nouns in the language, 
and to give the law to all foreign nouns seeking admission 
into English. 

By 1550, this as, changed to ^5, ceased to be pronounced 
separately, except when the form of the word required it, 
as in ioxes and houses ; and, when unpronounced, the e was 
omitted from the spelling. So that now to form the geni- 
tive singular, and the plural throughout, we universally 
employ s. The use of the apostrophe^ to distinguish the 
genitive singular from the cases of the plural, arose in the 
seventeenth century, and was fully established by the eight- 
eenth. Its use was subsequently extended to the genitive 
plural — standing here after the ending 5, and distinguishing 
this case from the other cases of the plural. 

XVI. Exceptions to the Cases just given. — 1. In their 
Nttmber and Names. — The Anglo-Saxon had four cases, 
the English has three. The dative has been dropped, though 
in such expressions as / taught him grammar, I gave him 
this advice, we are still obliged to say that him is the indi- 
rect, or dative, object. For accusative we say objective; 
and for genitive, possessive. 

2. In their Offices, — The objective case after to and /or 
has largely taken upon itself the office of the Anglo-Saxon 
dative ; and, after of, much of the function of the genitive. 
In the Anglo-Saxon, the duty of the genitive was manifold. 
It expressed the myriad relations denoted in English by of. 
But now, while theoretically the ending may be attached to 
any noun, practically it is almost restricted to nouns naming 
things that can possess ; and so the old genitive is now not 
improperlij called the j^ossessive case. "But such uses of 
the case as the following, from the best of authors, and 
with nouns denoting usually measures of time, show that 



32 The English Language, 

the statement respecting restriction must not be rigidly 
taken : — 

An hour^s drive, a year's trial, a hair^s breadth, a month's notice, 
earth's surface, harm's way, ivinter's day, water's edge, yard's breadth, 
day's occurrence, week's sport, summer's toil, five minutes' drive. 
state's evidence, and a moment's reflection. 

XVII. Exceptions to the Plural in §. — 1. The Plurals 

in n. — Only one Anglo-Saxon noun of the consonant de- 
clension oxa — our ox — retains its old n^ and that only in 
the plural^ oxen. Even in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, 
only nine of the original an nouns end in n ; these only in 
the plural, and three of the nine had taken on the s ending 
in addition. But three nouns have in the plural deserted 
from the vowel declension to the consonant — one completely, 
two in part. Child, Anglo-Saxon cild, adds en to its old 
plural in r, — Anglo-Saxon cildru, English children; and 
Anglo-Saxon hrb^or and cu retain n in exceptional uses, 
brethren and Tcine ; ordinarily, brothers and cows, 

2. Plurals in the Nominative arid Objective sa^ne as 
in the Singular. — There are nouns in English with the same 
form in the singular and the plural ; as, sheep, deer, gross, 
hose, swine, vermin, etc. 

Some have been, others are stilly occasionally so used, 
though they have a form for each number. Shakespeare 
often uses mile, year, fathom, pound, etc., in the plural; 
and even such modern authors as Hawthorne, Holmes, 
Kingsley, and Longfellow say. 

Two yoke of oxen ; of books but few, some fifty score ; four pair ; 
and the folk of the village. 

Our words of this class largely indicate weight, number, 
length — measure of some kind. These exceptions, complete 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon. — The Noun, 33 

or partial, to the rule for plurals in these cases is explained 
by reference to the paradigm of the Anglo-Saxon vowel 
declension. There was a class of nouns in the neuter and 
another in the feminine (the neuter more numerous than 
the feminine), that added nothing to the stem in either 
number to form the nominative and the accusative. Our 
unchanged plurals can be traced back directly to Anglo- 
Saxon, or can be charged to Anglo-Saxon analogy. 

3. Plurals formed by Internal Change. — In English 
to-day 8te nouns, man, foot, tooth, goose, mouse, and louse, 
add neither s nor n to form the plural, nor is their plural 
like the singular. It is formed by a change of the stefU' 
vowel. This irregularity also is inherited from the Anglo- 
Saxon. The Anglo-Saxon /(9^ (foot) may be taken to repre- 
sent them. (Anglo-Saxon o and e are pronounced like long 
and long a.) 

Singular. Plural, 

Nom. fot fet 

Gen. fotes fota 

Dat. fet fotum 

Aec. fot fet 

This change of o to ^ in three cases w^as caused by the 
vowel i, which once followed the stem, and had sufficient 
influence upon the preceding syllable to modify its vowel 
in the direction of i. This variation is called mutation, and 
shows its stricB in many other English words. The i of the 
ending disappeared, as the change of vowel it had wrought 
in the stem was regarded as ample to mark the case. So 
that what was originally euphonic, accompanying the end- 
ing, and accidentally helping to denote the case, came in 
time to do it exclusively. But the cases constantly occur- 
ring were the nominative and the accusative (objective). 
3 



34 - Tlie English Language, 

The dative singular /e^ faded from memory^ and /e?^ (the e 
becomings as usual^ ee in English)^ whenever founds was 
looked upon as the plural of fot. The same i wrought the 
change which appears in the English plural of the remain- 
ing fivC;, men, teeth, geese, mice, and lice. In the Anglo- 
Saxon there were eleven of these mutation plurals. 

4: Foreign I*lurals in English. — There are foreign 
nouns in English which have brought along their original 
endings. They end in us, like focus and fungus — plurals,- 
foci and fungi ; in um, as memorandum and stratum,— 
plurals, memoranda and strata ; in is, — oasis ^ndi parenthe- 
sis pluralizing as oases and parentheses ; in ix, ex, — calix 
and vortex pluralizing variously as calices and calixes, vor- 
tices and vortexes, Hebrew cherui and seraph have the 
plurals cheruiim d^ndi seraphim ; and French beaii,i\i^ plural 
ieaux. They all in time bow to the law which imposes s 
or es as the plural ending in English ; but in the process 
of Anglicising they have two forms ; as, seraphim and ser- 
aphs, indices and indexes. Frequently, as in these two 
pairs, these different forms have different meanings assigned 
them. 

XVIII. The Loss of Grammatical Gender. — By grammati- 
cal gender we mean the gender of the noun as determined 
by its termination or declension, without exclusive, if 
indeed any, reference to the sex, or to the absence of sex, of 
the object named. We mean gender as it is in German and 
French to-day. In these, one must remember the gender of 
every noun, since its gender determines the form of the 
adjective used. From this labor the student of English is 
exempt, as the sex of the object determines the gender of 
its name. If the object is a male, the noun is masculine ; 
if a female, the noun is feminine ; if without sex, neuter. 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — The Noun, 35 

As with ns neither of the articles nor any adjective changes 
its form on account of gender^ a knowledge even of sex is 
essential only in determining which of the third personal 
pronouns — he, she, or it, in the singular — should be used in 
place of the noun, if any is employed. 

The total abandonment of grammatical gender by the 
Anglo-Saxon and the Norman-French nouns took place 
largely while the languages were uniting to form the English. 

The loss is an enormous gain in relieving the memory and 
in aiding personification. 



CHAPTER V. 

GRAMMATICAL CHAKGES OF THE A:N'GL0-SAX0I!^ IK BECOM- 
ING E:N"GLISH. — THE ADJECTIVE. 

XIX. Forms of the Adjective. — 1. Its Declension. — In 

Anglo-Saxon^ the adjective was inflected much as were the 
nouns of the vowel declension. But if a demonstrative or 
a possessive pronoun preceded the adjective^ the terminations 
were precisely those of the noun in the n, or consonant^ de- 
clension. 

Of this cumbersome mass of endings^ matched or a little 
overmatched by the modern German^ traces may be seen in 
the e ending of Chaucer^s adjectives in the plural. But by 
1550^ even this vowel^ to which, as in the noun, the other 
vowels had weakened, disappeared, and the adjective became 
flectionless. 

2. Its Comparison in er and est. — In our Indo-Euro- 
pean family of languages, the comparative is formed by 
adding a syllable to the simple stem of the adjective ; the 
superlative, by adding a suffix to the comparative. In the 
Teutonic member of the family, is or os was the suffix added 
to form the comparative ; to this, ta was attached to form 
the superlative. 

The s of the comparative is or os, except in worse and less, 
2)assed over into r. Professor Hadley in his scholarly 
essay On Passive Formations has paralleled this change of 
s to r, showing that the r in the passive of the Latin verb 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon. — The Adjective, 37 

— in laudor, laudaris, laudatur, laudamur, laudantur, for 
instance — is the s of the reflexive pronoun se {self) changed 
to r. To this essay the reader is referred for the additional 
support which an examination of other languages, in our 
family and out of it, gives to this assigned origin of the r of 
our comparatives. 

The for o of the comparative suffix of adjectives, but not of 
adverbs, was dropped in Anglo-Saxon ; not, however, without 
occasionally having an effect upon the vowel of the preceding 
syllable, an effect still seen in elder and eldest, from the posi- 
tive old. The s of the full superlative suffix ista or osta 
did not undergo rhotacism, but remained s. When now 
the ^ or the o of the Teutonic suffix, dropped in Anglo-Saxon, 
was resumed in early English ; when the weakening of it to 
e, and of the i and o of the superlative to e, took place ; and 
when the final a of that degree, softened to 6, was dropped ; 
then the adjective formed its comparative in er and the 
superlative in est, as now. 

3. Its Comparison by Adverbs, — It is said that the first 
comparison by means of adverbs is found in the Ancren 
Riwle, about 1220 — the meste dredful. This method is not 
Anglo-Saxon but Norman-French ; though it is worth noting 
that the adverbs used in the comparison, more and most, less 
and least, are themselves compared in the old Avay. The 
adverbial comparison, used mainly with polysyllabic adjec- 
tives, and with participles employed as adjectives, has gained 
so rapidly upon the other that Trench predicted the extinc- 
tion of the comparison in er and est. We do not, as they 
did in Shakespeare^s and in Milton^s day, write 2:)re2J0ster on s- 
est, flourishing est, and dangerouser ; but, when we find in 
writers like Hawthorne, AVhately, Professor Whitney, Mat- 
thew Arnold, Lowell, Thackeray, Hadley, George Eliot, 



38 ■ The English Language. 

James Martineau^ Henry Taylor^ Holmes^ Blacky Browning, 
Carlyle, Hutton^ and Kingsley such forms as : — 

Cheerfulest, immensest, beautifulest, correctest, succincter, dis- 
tincter, incessanter, commoner, splendider, manliest, neatliest, dis- 
tinctest, advisablest, profitablest, easilier, nakedest, firiest, chief est, 
supremest, extremest, diviner, divinest, surelier, pitifulest, tiresomest, 
mournfuller, directer, cunninger, etc., 

we may suspect that usage is now setting towards the 
good old Anglo-Saxon form^ if ever it had ebbed away 
from it. 

Not long after the introduction of comparison by the use of 
adverbs^ it became fashionable to use it to strengthen that in 
er and est, Shakespeare is fond of these double compara- 
tives and superlatives. You may count twelve double com- 
paratives, such as more richer, more compter , more harder, 
in the single play of King Lear ; and superlatives like most 
worst, most loldest, most unhindest are found, as well as 
double comparatives, in his dramas. The usage died out 
soon after Shakespeare's time. 

It may be seen from correctest, incessanter, naTcedest, 
chief est, supremest, divinest, extremest, and directer, quoted 
above, that adjectives which denote qualities not susceptible 
of increase or decrease are nevertheless compared. Indeed, 
such authors as George Eliot, Freeman, Motley, Symonds, 
J. E. Seely, Lowell, Warner, Alford, Holmes, and others 
use universal with more, as, or so before it. 

We add that our irregular adjectives are an inheritance 
from the Anglo-Saxon. 

We close this subject by saying that while there is author- 
ity, respectable in quality and quantity, for the superlative 
degree in the comparison of two things, and for such expres- 
sions as three first, three last, etc., we are able from a wide 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — Tlie Adjective, 39 

reading of modern authors^ undertaken in order to settle these 
and scores of other questions^ to pronounce that usage is 
OYerwhelmingly in favor of the comparative in such cases ; 
and of the expressions ^r^^ three, last three, etc., instead of 
three first, three last, etc. 



CHAPTER VI. 

GEAMMATICAL CHANGES OF THE AKGLO-SAXOK 1:^" BECOM- 
ING ENGLISH. — THE PEONOUN. 

XX. The Personal Pronouns. — 1. Their JPersistence. — All 

of these^ and these in all their cases^ except its, are in the 
Anglo-Saxon. Indeed^ many of them are Indo-European 
as well — the pronouns, more than any other part of speech, 
surviving in the several languages of the family. Their 
Anglo-Saxon inflections also are retained in English. It is 
to the pronouns that we look for the only distinctive objec- 
tives in English — me, thee, him, her, us, them, and ivhom ; 
all of which, except whom, are personal pronouns. 

2. Forms Transferred'. — The English case correspond- 
ing to the Anglo-Saxon accusative is the objective. But with 
the exception of it — our objective as well as nominative — the 
English objectives of the personal pronouns are the Anglo- 
Saxon datives. This wholesale transfer of case-forms is 
remarkable. It began even in Anglo-Saxon, and by 1350 
was completed. 

3. Cofiversion of Anglo- Saocon I>einonstratives into 
English Personals. — Our she is the Anglo-Saxon demon- 
strative seo ; and our third person plurals, they, their, them, 
are the plurals of this same demonstrative. 

4. Change in the Spelling of Some Personal Pro- 
nouns. — By 1350, ic was written i ; and afterwards / to 
distinguish it, Lounsbury thinks, from the prefix i of the 
passive participle. 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon. — The Pronoun, 41 

The Anglo-Saxon genitives mln and )?^/^ had each two 
forms in English^ as they sometimes dropped the n and some- 
times retained it. The double forms were subsequently 
utilized ; mi and thi stood before consonants^ and inin and 
thin before vowels and silent h. Later stilly mi and thi, now 
written my and thy, were placed before consonants^ and min 
and thin, spelled mine and thine, were used in the predicate ; 
as in^ This book is mine, 

5. Its. — His is the Anglo-Saxon genitive of the masculine 
and the neuter of the third personal pronoun, he and hit, and 
so took the place of nouns denoting persons and of those de- 
noting inanimate things. This in time came to be regarded as 
improper ; and the impropriety seemed the more glaring when, 
by the dropping of h from hit, the relation of it to he, that of 
the neuter to the masculine of the same j)ronoun, was for- 
gotten. The literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth 
centuries betrays a growing sense of the impropriety, and 
abounds with substitutes for Jiis as the genitive of it^ 
Of it, thereof, her, it, the, and it oivn were all used. 

It had three ribs in the mouth of it, between the teeth of it. — Dan. 
vii. 5. Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly, thou settlest the 
furrows thereof, thou blessest the springing thereof. — Ps. Ixv. 10. And 
made thy body bare of her two branches. — Titus Andron. II. 4, 18. 
That it had it head bit off by it young. — King Lear, I. 4, 204. That 
will be thawed from the true quality with that which melteth fools-. 
^Jul Ccesar, III. 1, 41. 

In the folio of 1623, appearing seven years after Shake- 
speare^'s death, the editors have it fourteen times where now 
we should use its. Six of the fourteen have own following 
the it J as in. To it oion protection and favor of the climate. 
— Winter'^ Tale. 

The first appearance, yet noted, of the new coinage its (a 



42 Tlie English Language, 

grammatical blunder^ since the t of Mt, or it, is a case end- 
ings and so its contains the possessive ending s plus the 
nominative neuter ending t) is in 1598. Spenser, 1553-1599;, 
and Bacon^, 1561-1626^ never use its. Its is not found in 
the Bible of 1611^ except in Lev, xxv. 5^, and not even there 
in the early editions. Shakespeare in the 1623 folio uses ifs * 
nine times and its only once — Made former wonders its. — 
Hen, VIII, I. 1, 18. Seven of these nine appearances are in 
two of his latest plays — The Tempest and Winter^s Tale, 
Milton uses its only three times in his poetry, though more 
frequently in his prose ; and Trench says that Macaulay, 
1800-1859, declared that he avoided its when he could. 

No one now thinks of shunning its. We quote a sentence 
from the late Professor Phelps to show how frequently its 
may appear in good society without giving offence. 

**I have endeavored to follow it [a prayer] from its inception in a 
human mind, through its utterance by human lips, and in its flight 
up to the ear of Him who is its hearer because he has been also its 
inspirer, and on its journey around the unnumbered points . . . which 
this feeble voice reaches, and on its return from those altitudes with 
its golden train of blessings." 

6. Ye and You. — The Anglo-Saxon ge and eow came 
into English as ye and you. These were used as they were 
in Anglo-Saxon, the one as the nominative, and the other 
as the objective, plural of the second personal pronoun. 
They are always so used in Chaucer, and in the English Bible 
of 1611 ; though this version reflects in this, as in so many 
other particulars, a usage older than that of its day. Con- 

■^ In the paper conveying to his nephew the desk on which the 
Declaration of Independence was written, Thomas Jefferson, in 1825, 
uses ifs twice. This paper is in the State Department at Washington. 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — The Pronoun. 43 

fusion between the nominative and the objectiye of the pro- 
nouns sprang up in the sixteenth century. This was the 
case with ye and you. They said, also. It is me ; between 
you and /. Shakespeare, while employing both ye and you, 
does not observe this old distinction between them. Nor do 
we of the present day, although attempts have been made, 
notably by the rhetorician Campbell, a century ago, to 
revive it. We have simply adopted the form you (originally 
objective) for both nominative and objective. 

7. Thou and Yotc. — In addressing a single person the 
Anglo-Saxons always used the pronoun in the singular. 
But thou has yielded to you, except among the Friends, in 
poetry, and in prayer. In this substitution of the plural for 
the singular, '^as though the person addressed were as good 
as two or more ordinary people, ^^ which was begun in the 
thirteenth century and completed in the sixteenth, we have 
followed especially the lead of the Dutch and the French. 
On its way to extinction in the speech of polite life and of 
literature, thou came to be used ''as the pronoun of (1) 
affection towards friends, (2) good-humored superiority to 
servants, and (3) contempt or anger to strangers. ^^ All these 
uses are illustrated in Shakespeare and in the literature of 
his day. 

8. OurSf Yotii^Sy Hers^ and Theirs. — The s of the geni- 
tive, seen in his and then in its, was extended, by a false 
analogy, to our, your, her, and their, w^hen unconnected 
with nouns, and so made double genitives of them — This 
book is ours or yours or hers or theirs. Ourn, yourn, hern, 
his^n, theirn, vulgar and ungrammatical as they are, are 
dialectical, forming their double genitive in n rather than s, 
after the fashion of the 7i declension. 

In Anglo-Saxon there were the possessive adjective 



44 The English Language, 

pronouns (1) mln and thin, exactly like the genitive of the 
first and second personal pronouns^ and (2) ure and eower 
{our and your), exact duplicates of the genitive plural of 
these same pronouns. So that when^ in passing into Eng- 
lish, the genitive of the personal pronouns also was restricted 
to the possessive relation, and the endings of the possessive 
adjectives were dropped, it became difficult to tell whether 
the forms used belonged to the one class of pronouns or to 
the other. 

9. Self. — In the Anglo-Saxon the ordinary personal pro- 
nouns are used as reflexive pronouns as well. They are so 
used in English, especially in poetry. 

And millions in those solitudes, since first the flight of years began, 
have laid them down in their last sleep. — Bryant, 

But these pronouns were frequently strengthened by the 
addition of silf, sylf, seolf, or self — meaning the same, the 
aforesaid — used as an adjective, and agreeing in number and 
case with the pronoun it strengthened. Used to strengthen 
the pronoun when it was the subject of the sentence, the 
pronoun had to be repeated in the dative before self ; as. 
He {him) self did it. This was its customary employment. 
Since about 1350, self has followed the objective of the 
third personal pronoun, and is attached to it — for self at 
first always stood alone, — and we say himself, herself, itself, 
and themselves ; but in the first and second persons, self is 
appended to the possessive case of the pronouns, and we 
say myself, thyself, ourself, yourself, ourselves, and your- 
selves. 

It would seem that self early had, and all along down has 
retained, something of a substantive force. An adjective can 
stand between it and the possessive of the pronoun ; it can 
be modified by a noun, and by the pronoun one, in the pos- 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — The Pronoun, 45 

sessivG;, and can stand in the nominative and in the object- 
ive case. 

My very self was yours. — Otway. Till Glory's self is twilight. — 
Byron, Orpheus' self may heave his head. — 3Iilton, To thine own 
self be true. — Shakespeare. 

And perhaps one's s&lf is more commonly used now than 
oneself. 

When 56//* united, with the pronoun^ it was mainly (1) to 
make with it a reflexive, or (2) for the sake of emphasis. 
But the compound could stand alone as nominative. 

Thyself shall see the act. — Shakespeare. Myself am hell. — Milton. 

And this use of self never very common and almost aban- 
doned, is creeping into favor again, it is thought. There 
can be no doubt that usage is overwhelmingly in favor of 
the simple personal pronouns as subject^ and restricts the 
compound with self to the function (1) of emphasis, as in. 
You yourself shall go ; and (2) to that of a reflexive, as 
in. He made himself useful. We have seen that, at least in 
poetry, the simple pronoun, after verbs used transitively, 
takes upon itself this reflexive office ; and after certain 
prepositions, also, tipon, about, around, etc., we employ the 
simple pronoun ; but after others, to, iy, for, etc., we use 
the compound. 

The young prince promised to take upo7i him the obligations. — Scott. 
My uncle stopped a minute to look about him. — Dickens. It is dis- 
puted what aim a translator should propose to himself. — Matthew 
Arnold. He claimed to decide /or himself. — New-York Tribune. 

XXI. The Interrogative Pronouns. — Our interrogatives, 
ivho, ichicli, and tvhat, in all their forms, are Anglo-Saxon 
interrogatives ; and even our ivhy is traceable to the same 
parentage. But, as has been said, our wh is Anglo-Saxon 



46 llie English Language. 

litv. Our interrogative wliose and ivliom are restricted to 
persons^ but the corresponding Anglo-Saxon forms could be 
used when mere things were asked about. Our luliicU is a 
compound of liwl {ivhat) and lie {like), and is an adjective^ 
as well as an interrogative pronoun. Whether^ now a con- 
junction^ is an Anglo-Saxon interrogative from hwa {tvho) 
and the comparative suffix ther. It came into English with 
its two functions of adjective and interrogative pronouns^, as 
may be seen in^ 

Whether is greater the gift or the altar. — Matt, xxiii. 19. Unsure to 
whether side it would incline. — Spenser, 

In the seventeenth century^ tuJiich took the place of whether 
in both these offices. 

In the Elizabethan period there was much confusion re- 
specting the case-forms of the interrogative luho, as there 
was respecting those of the personal and demonstrative pro- 
nouns. Who often stood where now we should place whom. 

Who hath he left behind him general ? — King Lear, lY. 3, 6. Who 
does the wolf love f—Coriol, II. 1, 8. With who 9— 0th, IV. 2, 99. To 
who f—Cymh. lY. 2, 75. Who have we here 1— Winter's Tale, lY. 3, 
636. 

It is not always easy^ even now^, to keep the right forms 
of the interrogatives. How common such questions as^ Wlio 
did you find there ? Who did he marry ? How easily even 
Hawthorne glides into^ And who do you think I saw stand- 
ing on deck ? 

XXII. — The Relative Pronouns. — In Anglo-Saxon a real 
relative pronoun was wanting. To express the subordinacy 
of an accessory clause the language used the indeclinable f ^ 
(1) alone or (3) in conjunction with the demonstrative se, 
seo, \cet, or (3) in connection with the personal pronoun. 

1. That, — The office of the relative was first assumed in 



Grammatical Clianges of Anglo Saxon. — The Pronoun. 47 

Snglish DY iliat, the neuter of the old Anglo-Saxon demon- 
strative se, seo, ]>cet. This is in general use to-day^ relating 
to nouns or pronouns of any gender^ person^ or case, in either 
number. Being the oldest relative, the author of the Hiwi- 
Ue Petition of Who and Which was infelicitous in his choice 
of a verb when he makes these two pronouns say, ^' AVe . . . 
kept up our dignity and honor many years, till the Jack- 
Sprat tltat snjpplanted us/'^ 

2. Which and Who. — Very soon after the Conquest the 
interrogative which was employed as a relative to aid that^ 
and, like that, related to nouns denoting persons as well as 
to those naming things. The interrogative who was meta- 
morphosed into a relative somewhat later. The transition 
of these interrogatives to relatives was easy. AVe might, after 
Abbott and Whitney, illustrate the transfer thus : Who 
steals my j)nrse ? He steals trash = He loho steals my purse 
steals trash. Which barked ? I see the dog = I see the 
dog ivhicli barked. 

The relative which, like the interrogative, is used as an 
adjective. When so used, the noun that ivhich modifies is 
repeated exactly or in substance from the preceding clause. 
The repetition gives definiteness, and prevents doubt as to 
the reference. 

If she did play false the fault was hers, ivJiich fault Hes, etc. — Ki?iff 
Jolin, I. 1, 119. She took the opportunity of . . . going to Bath; 
for icliich place she set out. — Fielding. Ennius writes in regard to 
Homer ; of which poet he was, etc. — Lounsbury. 

Used as an adjective or as a pronoun, which is frequently 
preceded by the. Compare the French leqnel. 

There he espied his roll, the ivhich he with trembling and haste 
catehed up. — Biinyan. Let gentleness my strong enforcement be, in 
the ivhich hope I blush. — As You Like It, II. 7, 19. The better part 



48 The English Language, 

of valor is discretion ; in the which better part T have saved my life. 
—I. Hen. IV, V. 4, 125. 

Which was sometimes followed by that, 

A daughter which that was called Sophie. — Chaucer. 

But oftener than otherwise^ 'which has long been^ and still 
is^ used without the before it, without that following it, and 
without the antecedent, repeated precisely or in substance, 
after it. 

3. WhOf What^ That^ and Which Distinguished, — 
At first, ivho, which, and that related (1) to words denoting 
mere animals and things, and (2) to words denoting persons. 
But later, lohich dislodged who from the first position, and 
who and that drove luhich from the second. This displace- 
ment began in the seventeenth century, and is now complete. 
That performs both offices, though it cannot do either after 
a preposition — we cannot say. There is the hoy or the ioolc for 
that I am looking. The objective whom has followed the 
example of ivho ; and ivhose, as the possessive of ivho, also 
refers to persons. 

What {hiomt) is the neuter of who (liioct), and is used 
only when things are spoken of. When used in the nomi- 
native and in the objective, it is noiv never preceded by an 
antecedent, and seldom has one following it. We can say, 
W^hat man dares that I dare ; but we should usually say, 
AVhat man dares I dare. Of tvhose, the possessive of what, 
and meaning of tohich, Professor Meiklejohn concedes but 
half the truth in saying that it " maxj be used^^ ; and Mason 
is wholly wrong in claiming that it is ^"^ rarely employed 
except in poetry. ^^ In our special study of authors (all 
prose), to which reference has been made, we have found it 
hundreds of times — frequently twenty-five or thirty times in 
three hundred pages. 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — The Pronoun, 49 

The relative that is nearly always restrictive ; that is, it 
introduces some characteristic needed to make the thing 
definite, which, while adding to the meaning, narrows the 
scope of the antecedent. 

All that I have, and all that I am, and all that I hope in this life, I 
am now ready hereto stake upon it. — Webster. In 1685, Louis XIY. 
signed the ordinance that revoked the Edict of Nantes. — Green, J. R. 

Who and tvhich are often imrestrictive, but not always 
so. In this office they introduce a circumstance additional, 
not needed to define the thing, and not limiting the ante- 
cedent, and have the meaning of and he, and she, and it, or 
and they. 

Manslaughter, which is the meaning of the one, is the same as man's 
laughter, which is the end of the other. — Holmes, Charles II., who 
never said a foolish thing, gave the English climate the highest praise. 
— Lowell. 

But tvho and which introduce restrictive clauses as 

Avell, and so share with that the function just assigned it. 

Writers who have no present are pretty sure of having no future. — 
Lowell. An artist is bound to give due weight to the motives which 
would claim authority over him in other acts of life. — Hutton. 

This wide use of who and luhich in restrictive clauses is 
not accounted for by saying that they occur after this, these, 
those, and even that, and hence are used to avoid the disagree- 
able repetition of sound which that after these words w^ould 
cause. This may frequently be the reason for the employ- 
ment of ivho and ivhicli in restrictive clauses ; but our 
collected instances enable us to affirm (1) that who and ivhich 
stand in such clauses oftener without than with those pro- 
nouns preceding them, and (2) that they so stand oftener 
than that itself. Especially is this true of which, 
4 



50 The English Language, 

Instead of which in relative clauses^ ivhen and where and 
wherein and ivhereiy and whereof and tvhereto and whereon 
are used. We add that tuho, ivhich, and that are very often 
omitted when, if used, they would stand in the objective. 
Particularly is this true of luhich and that. 

The work we have accomplished is the proper commentary of the 
methods we have pursued. — Tyndall, There's not a joy the world can 
give like that it takes away. — Byron, 

Macaulay is the only writer we have found who uniformly 
inserts the relative. 

Again, we may say that, unlike that, the pronoun ivhich 
Titay relate to a whole clause. This office of which has 
been scouted by those critics who try to impose a grammar 
upon authors rather than take their own from authors. 
But scores and scores of illustrations can be given. 

The sails turned, the corn was ground, after which the wind ceased. — 
Tyndall. Unless Spenser's publisher ... is not to be trusted, which 
of course is possible. — Church. If he had not kissed the keeper's 
daughter, which is far from improbable. — Dowden. He [the Saxon] is 
wanting in taste, which is as much as to say that he has no sense of 
proportion. — Lowell. And, which became him like a prince indeed, he 
made a blushing 'cital of himself. — Shakespeare. The particulars of the 
controversy have not reached us, which is ever to be lamented. — 
Irving. 

Lastly, which may relate to the gist of a clause or the 

assertive part of it. 

The person takes in hand the regulation of his own morality, which 
it is hardly safe for any one to do. — Hamerton. He ought to come to 
church, which he never. does. — Kmgsley. They are wasting time, to 
do which elegantly ... is the highest achievement of civilization. 

— Lowell. 

XXIII. Some of the Adjective Pronouns. — We select a few^ 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon. — The Pronoun, 51 

only those concerning the proper use of which there is still a 
question. 

1. Some. — Some (Anglo-Saxon sum) at first meant a cer- 
dain. This meaning it still has in somebody and something. 
But it came early in English to denote a vague number or 
quantity — some "people, some u)ater, some are aged. 

Some in the sense of about may precede numerals. 
Shakespeare abounds in this use of it ; it may be found twice 
in a single Scene; the second, of Act II., of Julius Ccesar. 
It is perfectly good Anglo-Saxon as well. Upon this use of 
some, the critics described above have served an injunction ; 
but usage disregards the injunction. 

And vile it were for some three suns to store and hoard myself. — 
Tennyson. Enduring some nifieti/ yesirs. — Milne. Some four persons 
in the length and breadth of London. — Newman. Thus came the 
jocund spring in Killing worth, in fabulous days some hundred years 
ago. — Longfelloiv. A baby of some three months. — Hawthoryie. Of 
books but few — some fifty score for daily use. — Holmes. 

We could give, from the best authors of the day, number- 
less examples of this use of some. 

2. Both and All. — Ordinarily, these are adjectives, and 
belong to some noun or pronoun. Bat, in spite of the in- 
terdict of the critics, they may be followed by of and an 
objective. 

Both of us are wooing gales of festal happiness. — £^e Quincey. All 
of the dialects of our branch. — Whitney. Both of them were notori- 
ous for their loyalty ; hoth of them were of unspotted virtue ; hoth of 
them have left a reputation. — Buckle. Both of the girls have plenty 
of . . . humor. — Thackeray. They were hoth of them fertile and 
active thinkers. — J. S. Mill. We are all of us imaginative. — George 
Eliot. 

Such sentences abound. 



53 The English Language. 

3. One. — One (Anglo-Saxon an) is (1) a numeral adjec- 
tive — One God, one law, one element ; (2) a definite adjec- 
tive — One evening after the sheep were folded ; is used (3) 
instead of a substantive — Our contract is an old one. The 
Holy 07ie ; and (4) as an indefinite adjective pronoun. It 
is of one with this function — that of on in French, of man 
in German and in Anglo-Saxon, that of body in, If a body 
meet a body, — it is of this one that we shall first speak. These 
sentences illustrate this use of it. 

One cannot always be studying one's own work. — Matthew Arnold. 
It does not consist in buying what one needs for one's own comfort or 
pleasure. — R. G. White. Much as one is dazzled by Choate's marvel- 
ous command of diction, still one cannot avoid thinking of his style in 
the reading. — Phelps. One can be happy with many little desagre- 
ments when one sees that the people are determined to be civil to one. 
— Thackeray. 

Where, as in this last quotation, the iteration of one may 
offend, a personal pronoun may be used instead. This sub- 
stitution is proscribed by the critics described above, but 
usage allows it. 

It is a good sign to have one^s feet grow cold when he is writing. 
— Holmes. One feels as if he could eat grass himself. — Burroughs. 
The higher one is elevated on the see-saw balance of fortune, the lower 
must be his subsequent depression. — Irving. One is arrived, one is at 
his ancient lodging of the Hotel Bristol. — Thackeray. 

As seen above, one may take the apostrophe in the pos- 
sessive. 

It is one in the third use described above, its use as a sub- 
stantive, that takes the plural ones. This plural is exceed- 
ingly common, though condemned by many who are igno- 
rant of what usage approves or regardless of it. 

These early years we know were busy ones. — Church. The female 



Orammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — The Pronoun. 53 

figures stand out in the canvas almost as prominently as the male ones. 
— Lecky. Concrete ideas must precede abstract ones. — Marsh. 

4. The One — The Other. — So far as we know, there is 
no question as to which of two things previously mentioned 
each of these phrases refers. The one, like the former, points 
to the first ; and the other, like the latter, to the second. 

David Deans opened his business, and told down the cash ; Dumbie- 
dikes steadily inclined his ear to the one, and counted the other with 
great accuracy. — Scott. It were better to have no opinion of God at 
all than such an opinion as is unworthy of him ; for the one is unbelief, 
the other is contumely. — Bacon. Turn from Walter Scott to Byron. 
The one is healthy in feeling and expression, the other is cold, bitter, 
and satirical. — Hadley. 

But usage is not quite uniform. From our data we should 
say that the slips are nearly one in ten. 

5. Any One JElse^s or Any One^s Else, — A7iy, no, and 
some may combine with one or body and be followed by 
else. When such combinations are made in the possessive, 
where shall the 's be placed ? We are assured that it is 
""^ better grammar and more euphonious to consider else s.^ 
an adjective ; '' and are enjoined by the dogmatizing critics, 
either to avoid the combination or ''^to form the possessive 
by adding the apostrophe and s to the word that else quali- 
fies.^^ We have as yet found but four instances of the 
form recommended. 

This is as much Sir William Hamilton's opinion as any one's else — 
J. S. Jlill 

We have seen it once in Hudson and twice in Miss Cum- 
mins's Lam2Mghter. But over against these four Ave can 
array more than forty in which else receives the 's. 

My happiness is no more desirable than anybody else's. — Martineau. 
Beyond anybody else's son in Middlemarch. — George Eliot. One of 



54 The English Language. 

those that just go right on, do their own work and everybody else's. — 
Holmes. The secret was his own and no one else's. — Kingsley. Cer- 
tainly not! nor any one else^s ropes. — Rushiii. 

Besides these authors we may instance Howells, Blacky 
Thackeray^ and many others ; and such papers and month- 
lies as ^'The Tribune/^ ^''The Christian Union/^ ^^Harper^s 
Monthly/' ^^The Century/' and ^^The Atlantic/' 

6. Each and Every, — These pronouns^ like the rest^ are 
from the Anglo-Saxon. They are distributive^ and call at- 
tention to the individuals forming a collection. Mason says, 
" When each is used, the prominent idea is that of the sub- 
division of the collection into its component parts ; when 
every is used, the prominent idea is, that the individuals 
taken together make up some whole." 

7. Each Other and One Another, — The critics with one 
voice cry out that we must use each other only when two 
things are mentioned, and that with more than two things 
we must employ one another. 

We may use each other and one another as they insist. 
About this there is no dispute, but there is no peremptory 
must compelling this. The best of authors employ these two 
phrases interchangeably, especially making each other do duty 
where these censors prescribe one another. Many use only 
one of them. We did not, at any rate, find each other in 
our three hundred pages of Stedman, or of Huxley ; we did 
not find one another in the same number of pages in E. G. 
White, Hamerton, Warner, Everett, Lowell, or Motley ; but 
each uses his favorite phrase alike when speaking of two and 
of more than two. Out of possible hundreds of illustrations, 
here are four. 

The three modes of shaping a proposition, distinct as they are from 
each other, follow each other in natural sequence. — Newman. Mankind 



Grammatical Changes of Aiiglo-Saxon, — The Pronoun, 55 

are gainers by suffering each other to live as seems good to themselves. — 
J, S. Mill, The two races soon came to be distinguished from one an- 
other. — J. R. Green. How do the mind and the universe communicate 
with one another, and what security have we that they find each other 
out ? — Martineau. 

8. Either and Neither, — Either and neither, if held to 
their etymology, could be employed only where two things 
are spoken of. And we are told, '^ Either and neither ap- 
plied to any number more than one of two objects is illegiti- 
mate and ungrammatical/^ '^'^ When more than two things 
are referred to, any and none should be used instead of either 
and neither,'^ 

Any and none are proper in such cases ; but either and 
neither have chipped the shell of their etymology, and are 
also proper where ''^ more than two things are referred to/^ 
This extension of their application goes back to the Anglo- 
Saxon, and is not, as we are told, '^ of late introduction/^ 

Neither of the three competitors would have a chance against her. — 
Higginson. Fish, flesh, fowl, and substances that were neither. — Bur- 
roughs. The tense employed at the outset was neither past, present, 
nov future, but all of these combined, doing duty as either. — Whitiiey. 
Dryden, Pope, and Wordsworth have not scrupled to lay a profane 
hand on Chaucer, a mightier genius than either. — G. P. Marsh, A 
man may use it as trustingly and as soberly as he would use either 
of i'\iQ?>Q [gravitation, light, and electricity']. — Phelps. The author of 
either of the Three Parts of Xing Ren. VI. — E. G, White. Is it pos- 
sible that neither of these causes [he had just given six], that not all 
combined could blast this bud of hope ? — Edward Everett, As may be 
observed in either of his four Pastorals. — Stedman. If all or either 
of us [myself, wife, and dog] miscarry in the journey. — Ben Jonson, 

We have found more than thirty sentences like the above. 

The use of either and neither, as conjunctions, with more 

than two nouns — as in the above quotation from Whitney, 



56 The English Language, 

and in this from Huxley^ " I cannot verify it either by touch 
or taste or smell or hearing or sight '' — is exceedingly com- 
mon. And this employment of either and neither has like- 
wise been put under ban. 

9. None. — N'o7ie (Anglo-Saxon lie an, not one) is not 
used before a noun. " It differs from no as mine from my,^'* 
Mason says^ ^^ Its substantive use as a singular is becoming 
obsolete ; and Professor Meiklejohn says^ '^ None is always 
plural.^" Others claim that none is anchored to its etymol- 
ogy^ and so is properly used only in the singular. But if 
usage furnishes the standard^ both of these dicta are mislead- 
ing. Often the context leaves it questionable whether none 
is singular or plural ; but of our collected instances^ in none 
of which is the number of none in doubt^ about four-sevenths 
are in the singular. 

None of those who inhabited it are now among the living. — Webster. 
None of our words in common use are new formations. — Bain. Where 
none admire, 'tis useless to excel ; where none are beaux, 'tis vain to be 
a belle. — Lyttleton. None are more likely to study the public tran- 
quility. — Irving. None of us will risk his life. — Burke. There was 
no7ie to which I more frequently gave a meditative hour. — Everett. 
None hears thy voice right, now he is gone. — Matthew Arnold. There 
is none like her. — Tennyson. 



CHAPTER yil. 

GRAMMATICAL CHANGES OF THE Ai^GLO-SAXOK IK BECOM- 
ING ENGLISH. — THE VERB. 

THE OLD, OR STRONG, ANGLO-SAXON CONJUGATION. 
Endings of the Present Tense. 



Indicative. 
Sing. 

1. e. 

2. est. 

3. e^. 


Subjunctive. 
Sing. 


Imperative. 
Sing. 
2. — . 
Flu. 

2. a^. 


Flu. 


Flu. 
) 


Infinitive. 

an. 


2. [ a^. 
3.) 


yen. 


Farticiple. 

ende. 



Endings of the Preterite^ or Past Tense. 

1. -. ^ 

2» ^» f^« Farticiple. 

3. — . ^ ; en. 



2. i- on. I en. 



58 The English Language. 

THE NEW, OR WEAK, CONJUGATION. 
Endings of the Present Tense, 

Subjunctive, Imperative, 

Sing. 
e. 2. a^ e^ —. 

Plu. 

2. at5. 

Infinitive. 

en. an. 

Participle. 

ende. 

Endings of the Tretevite^ or JPast Tense. 

1. de, ^ 

2. dest. y de. Participle. 

3. de, ) de. 



Indicative. 


1. 


e. 


2. 


est. 


3. 


e^. 


1. 


) 


2. 


[oiS, 


3. 


) 



II 



2. ^ don, \ den, 

3. ) 

XXIY. How the Two Conjugations Arose. — The original 
Indo-European method of indicating completed action, action 
in past time, was by repeating the root. This naturally 
denoted that the act expressed by this syllable was finished. 
These two syllables tended to run together, and in the con- 
traction resulting, especially in the Teutonic member of the 
family, the radical vowel was changed. This change, inci- 
dental and euphonic at first, came to be regarded as in itself 
a sufficient sign of past time. 

But in different verbs the vowels or diphthongs resulting 
from the contraction differed, and something less ^^ irregular 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — The Verb. 59 

aiid seemingly capricious ^^ was needed. This need was 
finally met by affixing did^ the reduplicated preterite of do, 
to the verb ; and this did, running down in Anglo-Saxon 
to de, and in English to ed, came at length to form the 
preterite^, or past tense^ of most verbs in these two languages. 

Those verbs in Avhich this vowel-change^ resulting from 
reduplication^, was looked upon as sufficiently indicative of 
past action or state constitute the conjugation termed strong 
— strong, because the verbs in it are able to form the past 
tense without the aid . of another verb ; those which for this 
purpose invoke the help of did constitute the conjugation 
called tveah. Since most verbs in Anglo-Saxon and in 
English fall into this last class, these are also called ^^ regu~ 
lar,^^ and those, ^^ irregular J^^ 

XXY. Wherein the Conjugations Agree and Wherein they 
Differ. — We have set down the endings of only two tenses, 
the present and the past. And this because these are the 
only tenses in which the verb has endings to indicate person 
and number in the several modes. 

The two conjugations agree perfectly in other tenses, 
and in one of the two whose endings are given above. Verbs 
in the two conjugations have in \h^ present the same termi- 
nations, singular and plural, in the indicative and in the 
subjunctive, and the same infinitive and participle endings. 

The two conjugations differ only in the past tense, and 
here only in two particulars, (1) the strong changes the 
radical vowel to indicate tense, while the weak employs d ; 
and (2) the endings of the strong in the indicative and the 
participle are not quite the same as those following the d in 
the weak. 

XXVI. Loss of Verbs from the Strong Conjugation. — In his 
English Past and Present, Trench sorrowfully descants upon 



60 The English Language, 

the desertion of strong verbs to the weak^ and predicts the 
speedy surrender of the few yet loyal to the old flag. But a 
more thorough study of literature would have stayed the 
grief of the good Dean^ and we should have been spared his 
gloomy prophecy. The indefatigable Lounsbury has ascer- 
tained (1) that there were over three hundred simple strong 
verbs in Anglo-Saxon ; (2) that one hundred of these are 
not found in English at all ; and (3) that more than one hun- 
dred of the remainder have gone over from the strong to 
the weak. 

But he has also ascertained (1) that only twelve strong 
verbs in Chaucer^s Canterbury Tales have since deserted to 
the weak ; (2) that only four verbs^ strong in the Tales, are 
both weak and strong now ; (3) that only three^ partially weak 
in the Tales, are now wholly weak ; while (4) four^ weak in 
the Tales, are strong now. And, comparing literature two 
hundred years later than the Chaucerian with our own, the 
Professor says, " Modern English has lost not a single one 
[strong verb] since the reign of Queen Elizabeth ; '^ and adds, 
" The present disposition of the language is not only to hold 
firmly to the strong verbs it already possesses, but . . . even 
to extend their number whenever possible. ^^ And he ad- 
duces a few, as shine, strive, shahe, and others, which, 
since 1600, have dropped ed in the preterite, and now form 
the tense by variation of the stem-vowel. 

This, however, should be said, that new English verbs, 
from whatever source derived, form their past tense and past 
participle in ed as regularly as new nouns add s to form 
the plural. So that, while the weak conjugation is no 
longer recruiting itself from the strong, its numbers are 
slowly increasing. 

XXVII. Changes in the Present and Past Tenses. — 1. The 



Grammatical Changes of A7iglo-Saxon.—The Verb, 61 

Third Person Indicative Singular. — In the third person 
singular indicative present of both conjugations the Anglo- 
Saxon "S {th), even before the Conquest^ frequently softened 
to s in the North of England. But in Middle and Southern 
England the regular th was continued even during what is 
called the Middle English Period of our literature, 1350- 
1550. Chaucer almost always uses this tit, and the English 
Bible invariably. The s from the North gradually pushed its 
way, and, by the middle of the seventeenth century, became 
the prevailing form. 

2. Dropping Final Letters, — After the Conquest the 
fashion obtained in verbs, as in nouns, of dropping the final 
n after the preceding aor o had softened into e. Then this e 
disappeared, first from pronunciation and then from the word ; 
though in the infinitive and elsewhere it is still sometimes 
retained to show that the preceding vowel is long, as in iitey 
but more frequently lost, as in liear. 

In the indicative %)lural present of both conjugations^, 
the Anglo-Saxon termination, ath, etli, was continued in the 
South of England ; but, throughout the central portion, en 
— an intrusion of the subjunctive en, some think — became the 
established form. Modern English seized upon this en ; and, 
discarding the n wholly and the e partially, '^caused all the 
persons of the plural to assume the same form as the infini- 
tive and the first person singular. ^^ And thus they stand 
to-day. 

In the subjunctive the n and the e vanished as in the indic- 
ative. 

3. Tlie Imperative, — The imperative was used in the 
second person, singular and plural. The plural ending atli^ 
weakened to etli, was sometimes dropped, and the two num- 
bers were often used interchangeably. This result may have 



62 The English Language, 

been hastened by the substitution of ye, afterward you, for 
thou in address. Later^ the plural ending went out of use, as 
did the singular^ when the verb had one, by the weakening of 
atoe and the disuse of e, 

4. The Present Participle, — The Anglo-Saxon present 
participle of both conjugations ended in e7ide. The final e 
was dropped here, as elsewhere, and the end sometimes ap- 
peared in the North as and and in the South as ind. But 
there was a verbal noun in Anglo-Saxon in ung, afterwards 
ing. The meaning of this and of the present participle was 
the same, and the sameness of function brought about a 
sameness of form — ing, 

5. Exceptional Preterites, — The preterite of some weak 
verbs in Anglo-Saxon had, between the stem and the per- 
sonal endings, either the connective o or ia, to which the full 
Teutonic connective aja had been reduced. When a con- 
nective e had been inserted between the stem and the per- 
sonal endings of verbs that did not have o or ia, and these 
two had in English weakened to e, then e became the gen- 
eral connective of the weak preterite. And when the don of 
the plural indicative had weakened to den, and the n of this 
mode and of the subjunctive plural den had disappeared, and 
the e preceding the n had also vanished, then ed became, as 
now, the full ending appended to the stem to form the 
weak preterite. 

But if the e in the ed is not pronounced, this ed often has 
(1) the sound of t, as in hissed and loohed ; often (2) not, as 
in spoiled and spilled ; often (3) the same verb has two 
forms and two sounds, as in spoiled and spoilt, spelled and 
spelt — the unpronounced e in the second form has fallen 
out, and the d, pronounced t, has become t. In some verbs 
(4) the ed is always a separate syllable^ as in greeted and 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — The Verb, 63 

lifted ; in others (5) it is so sometimes^, and sometimes has 
run down to t, as in iitilded and hitilt, girded and girt. If 
the stem ends in d or t, and the e of ed is omitted^ the d 
following (6) may go too ; and so verbs with the same forms 
in the preterite, the infinitive, the first person singular, and 
the three persons of the plural indicative are found in Eng- 
lish. Ready spread, smdptit illustrate this. All the forms 
are alike in pronunciation also ; or, as in read, differ but 
slightly — read of the participle and joi'eterite is pronounced. 
i-'ed. * 

6. The d of the Past Participle. — The d of the past 
participle is not, like the d of the preterite, from did. It is 
the t of the Indo-European suffix ta, changed to d. When, 
as detailed above, e became the general connective uniting 
the d to the stem of the verb, then the participle ending ed 
was precisely like that of the preterite. The changes that 
befell this ed befell that. 

7. The en of Past Participles. — What has been said of 
the dropping of the final n and the preceding e does not hold 
rigorously of the en of the past participle strong. Many 
participles (1) retain it in full; as, teaten, fallen, spohen ; 
some (2) retain the n and drop the e ; as, drawn, floivn, lain ; 
some (3) have two forms, one with the en and one without 
it; as, shrunhen and shrunk, trodden and trod; and some 
(4) have dropped the en entirely ; as, sprung, sung, and stung. 

If, now, we carry back and apply to the paradigms at the 
head of this chapter what has been said of the softening of 
the other vowels to e, and of the dropping of this e and the 
consonants, we shall see that the Anglo-Saxon verb has been 
nearly stripped of its inflections in becoming English, and 
presents us now little else than its bare stem. 

The inflections remaining are the est of the second 



64 The English Language, 

person indicative present singular ; the s of the third per- 
son ; the ed of the weak preterite throughout ; the st added 
to this ed in the second person singular ; the ed of the past 
participle weak ; the ing of the participle present ; and the 
efi or n of the strong participle past. 

XXVIII. Some Changes not Noted in the Paradigms. — 
1. The AtiglO' Saooon Gerund. — A form of the Anglo- 
Saxon infinitive ended in anne or enne, This^ thought to 
be the dative case of the infinitive^ was called a gerund, and 
was employed mainly to indicate purpose. It was always 
preceded by the preposition to. Dropping the second n 
and the final e, this gerund reduced to the form of the 
ordinary infinitive. When, dropping the n remaining, the 
Anglo-Saxon infinitive came into English, the to, hitherto 
found before it only when the infinitive was a gerund, was 
extended to the infinitive in all its uses, and so we find it to- 
day. When the idea of purpose had to be conveyed by the 
infinitive, it became usual to prefix for to the to. For to 
with the infinitive is often found in Elizabethan literature. 

Which for to prevent I have in quick determination thus set it down. 
— TTam. III. 1, 162. What went ye out for to see 9 — Luke vii. 24. 
Keeper, you are irreligious /or to talk diwdi cavil thus. — Thackeray. 

Except in such playful lines as these of Thackeray^s, for 
to is wholly inadmissible now. 

2. Double Preterite Forms. — Nearly four-fifths of all 
the strong verbs in English had in Anglo-Saxon a stem- 
vowel, in the first and second persons indicative preterite, 
unlike that of the three persons in the plural. This distinc- 
tion between the two persons of the singidar and the 
three of the ijlural had largely given way in Chaucer^s 
time. The singular stem had supplanted the plural ; the 
plural, the singular ; or both were used indiscriminately. 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxo?i, — The Verb. 65 

But to this distinction are to be traced such double forms 
in the preterite as sang and sung^ sprang and sjjrung, occa- 
sionally used in English even yet. About one-half of the 
strong verbs in English had the same stem-voivel in the 
Anglo-Saxon participle as in the plural preterite indica- 
tive ; drincan, for example^ had dranc as the stem of the 
third singular, and drunc as the plural stem and the stem 
of the participle. When then in English we find drunh 
side by side with drank in the preterite, we are troubled to 
tell whether the participle drunh has elbowed its way into 
that tense, or whether drnnh is a survival of the Anglo- 
Saxon plural of that tense. 

3. The Prefldc ge. — The prefix ge used in Anglo-Saxon 
with many parts of speech, especially with the past participle 
of verbs, passed in English into y or i, as in Shakespeare's 
y-clept, y-dady y-slahed, and disappeared almost completely 
in his time. 

4. The Potential Mode. — Some grammarians do not lay 
down an Anglo-Saxon potential mode. But the originals of 
our may, can, anight, must, would, could, and should were 
used in Anglo-Saxon as we use them now, if we except our 
present perfect and past perfect of this mode. Examples 
in abundance might be quoted. 

5. The Future Tense. — There was no simple future 
in Anglo-Saxon — one with personal terminations containing 
some trace of the substantive verb, as in Latin ; or made up 
of forms of the verb have, as the French are of the corre- 
sponding verb avoir. This absence of a simple future, per- 
petuated in English, and shared by other Teutonic lan- 
guages, has been commented upon by many and accounted 
for by some — notably by George P. Marsh. 

The duties of the future tense the Anglo-Saxons laid in 



66 The English Language. 

part upon the shoulders of the present. For the rest they 
seized upon the verbs of volition and necessity^ ivillan and 
scidan, our luill and shall, words sternly ^^ indicative of a 
present purpose^ determination^ or duty/" not of ^^ prophecy 
or of expectation, prediction, or even hope/" and made a 
future by combining their present indicative forms with 
infinitives. This method survives in English — as, indeed, 
does the other, in such expressions as I go, but I return ; To- 
morrow is Saturday — the two words retaining in these com- 
binations much of their original force. So also they did in 
Anglo-Saxon. But the English distinction between shall 
and will, in the several persons, the Anglo-Saxon had not 
reached. This distinction Marsh pronounces a ^^ verbal 
quibble, serving no end but to embarrass,"" a distinction 
which he predicts will soon disappear. 

6. The Compound Tenses. — The present perfect and the 
past perfect were formed originally in Anglo-Saxon by pre- 
fixing to the past participles of transitive verbs the forms of 
habban {have)] and to the past participles of intransitive 
verbs, the forms of wesan, or heon {he), and this both in the 
indicative and in the subjunctive. But hahban encroached 
upon the territory of beon. We form these tenses in the 
same way, and have continued and extended the use of have 
in place of he before intransitive participles. March con- 
cedes that ''Have with an intransitive does not bear analy- 
sis;^" but says, ^MVe do not want two tense-signs for the 
same tense."" And so have, displacing be (which before in- 
transitives "^^ would be theoretically more correct,"" Whitney, 
also, allows), has come to be the common auxiliary in these 
two compound tenses in the active voice. 

Still, be is found in these tenses as an auxiliary, especially 
with verbs of motion. 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — The Verb. 67 

When they were come out of the synagogue. — Mark i. 29. Sir Roger 
is gone out of the club. — Addison. The time is gone by. — J. S. Mill. 
The middle of August is come at last. — Kingsley. Thou art fled to 
brutish beasts. — Shakespeare. They to their grassy cOuch, these to 
their nests, were slunk. — Milton. The mountains are vanished. — Byron, 

We have dropped the present perfect and the past perfect 
subjunctive;, and have added the future perfect indicative. 
This is formed by 23refixing to a past participle some form of 
shall and ivill and the infinitive have. 

It is worth noticing that occasionally in early Anglo-Saxon 
we find the participles, in the active voice of these com- 
pound tenses, agreeing in gender, number, and case witlh 
the noun or pronoun in the accusative. This is seen in the 
ending of the participle, and explains the origin of these 
compound tenses. The form of hatban used had the noun 
or pronoun as its object, and this object was modified by the 
participle used as an adjective. But when the primitive 
idea of possession had faded out of hahian in these combina- 
tions, and the function of qualification had disappeared from 
the participle, then the verb became a mere formative ele- 
ment ; and, uniting with the participle, formed a compound 
tense. How completely the idea of j)ossession has faded out • 
of has, have, and had in these tenses is shown by the fact 
that we can say of one not only. He has found his coat, but. 
He has lost his coat ; though in the one case he has the gar- 
ment, and in the other we affirm that he has it 7iot, So, too, 
when has or have or had is used with an intransitive parti- 
ciple, as in. He has gone, its force as a form-word only is re- . 
tained. And to this state it had come even in Anglo-Saxon. 

7. The Progressive Form. — Continuing action or being 
in any tense of the English verb in the active voice can be 
expressed by uniting the present participle of that verb with 



68 The English Language, 

the forms of be in that tense. We can trace back this pro- 
gressive form to the Anglo-Saxon, in at least the present, 
past, and future tenses. 

8. I>o, as a Sttbstittite for Other Verbs. — The use of 

do to supply the place of a verb in the preceding clause is 
a frequent idiom of the language. It prevents repetition, 
and so is euphonic ; it abbreviates the expression, and hence 
is energetic. This use of do goes back to Anglo-Saxon. 
While standing in the place of some preceding verb, this do 
does not necessarily stand for the precise form previously 
used. That precise form cannot always be repeated instead 
of the substitute, cannot always be repeated after it. 

Praying him to raise up her son ... as he did the widow Drusiana. 
— ^Ifric. Women will again study Greek, as Lady Jane Grey did, 
— Arnold. IRothing worse happens to you than does to all nations. — 
Burke. Dalgetty hores you almost as much as he tvould do in real life. 
— Hutton. The face shines as the moon does when looking through a 
cloud. — Dowden. He noticed ih.Q change, and . . . measured the ex- 
tent better than I had done. — Martineau. A crowd of birds . . . came 
to hear the saint preach, as fish did to hear St. Anthony. — Lecky. By 
money, he has hecome a lord of men, as Tamburlaine did by force. — 
Doivden. When the inflections were dying out ... as they did very 
early. — Marsh. If I asked for her portrait, as I shall do some day. — 
Kingsley. He would rather make mQput it on than ask me to let him do 
it. — George Eliot. Proceeding, as it does, from the sensitiveness of her 
love. — Dowden. So far from writing, as you seem to expect me to do, 
a letter of condolence. — Hamerton. Imagine them growing gradually 
larger, as they actually do. — Tyndall. Must stand or fall on its own 
merits, as others have done before it. — Lowell. Grandcourt got more 
pleasure out of this notion than he could have done in winning. — George 
Eliot, 

Note the tenses and modes of the substituted do ; note, 
too, that it may be an infinitive. Note the tenses and 
anodes of the verb for which do is substituted. Note that 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon.^Tlie Verb. 69 

'do may stand for an infinitive or a participle, ISTote 
that do may stand for a transitive verb^, or be substituted 
for an intransitive. This last is a use denied it by the 
critics. 

9. I>o Emphatic. — The employment of do in the present 
and imperfect to add energy to the expression is exceedingly 
common. This use of it goes far back in English, even into 
Anglo-Saxon^ but did not become general until the end of 
the fifteenth century. Lounsbury^ Matzner^ March^ and 
others think that this emphatic do grew out of do used as a 
substitute. The transition, for instance, from, '' The rea- 
sons which led Tyrwhitt to come to the conclusions he did 
are not hard to find ^^ to ^^The reasons which led Tyrwhitt 
to come to the conclusions he did come to are not hard to 
find/^ is easy and natural. 

10. The Passive Voice. — Professor Hadley points out that 
in the Celtic languages the verb has the r in the passive ending 
of its simple tenses. The Latin r in the passive is the s of the 
reflexive pronoun se, after undergoing rhotacism. The Swed- 
ish and the Danish have their passive in s, and the Icelandic 
in sh or st, from their reflexive sik, — the German sich. In 
its endings of the middle voice throughout, and in those of 
its passive, except the first aorist and the future, the Greek 
repeats the personal pronoun of the same person as that of 
the subject. In these languages it is seen that the passive 
endings are, or are borrowed from, a middle voice, in which 
the action expressed by the verb is made to return upon the 
agent. 

The striking thing about the English verb is, that, like 
the Anglo-Saxon and the German, it has, if we except the 
past participle, no 2^<issive form whatever. The passive of 
an English verb in any tense is made by prefixing to the past 



70 The English Language. 

participle the forms of the verb he in that tense. Our Anglo- 
Saxon ancestors used for this purpose the forms of iveorf>an 
or those of wesan, or heon, our he. These two verbs were so 
used^ seemingly with little or no distinction in meaning. 

This 'weor^an, with the meanings hecome, hefall, hetide, or 
he, survives in old and even in modern English^ though not 
always in the passive voice. 

And now worth this mede y-maried. — Langlande. Woe ivorth the 
day. — Ezek. xxx. 2. Woe worth the man. — Spenser, 

The virtual abandonment in English of the Anglo-Saxon 
weor'6an was accomplished in spite of the analogy of the Ger- 
man^ whose passive voice always uses iverden, the correlative 
of iveor'^an. It is due, Matzner and Hadley think, to ^' the 
influence of the French principle of formation. ^^ 

The English enjoys unequalled freedo^n in forming it& 
passives. 

The anarchy was put an end to. — J. R. G-reen. The wealthy 
refugees were positively denied admittance into the territory. — Motley. 
Many things which might have been done without. — George Eliot. The 
most sacred things may he made an ill use of. — Bicker staff. The logical 
distinction was quite lost sight of, — Bagehot, The child should he taken 
all imaginable care of. — Farquhar. 

11. The Passive Eoepressing Continuing Action, — 

The past participle joined to the forms of he usually repre- 
sents an action as completed. To indicate continuing action 
in the passive voice it became customary in Middle English^ 
1350-1550^ to prefix to the verbal noun in ung — afterward 
ing — the preposition in or on, changed in spelling to a to 
indicate the careless pronunciation given it. Afterwards the 
a was suppressed. The house is in huilding, The house is a 
huilding, and The house is huilding, exhibit the three modes 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon. — The Verb, 71 

successiyely taken to indicate action as going on in the 
joassive. 

The Anglo-Saxon present participle ended in a^ide, ende. 
The final letter dropped, and the initial was exchanged for i. 
The meaning of the participle and of the verbal noun^ analo- 
gous^ if not identical^ hastened the change of ind in the parti- 
ciple to ing. When this had taken place, the participle and 
the verbal noun, alike in form and function, were confounded 
the one with the other, and is iuilding was regarded as is 
with the present participle of iuild. 

But this combination, always clear when the subject names 
something that can only suffer an action, is anibigtioiis 
when that something can put forth the act as well. The 
chicken is eating may mean that the fowl is picking up grains 
of corn and swallowing them ; or that, cooked and on the 
plate, it is having the act of eating performed upon it. Nor 
would the ambiguity be removed if we followed Marsh's sug- 
gestion, and went back to the original form. The chicken is 
a eating. 

Hence the need of a new fomn for the continuous pas- 
sive with subjects denoting things that can both exert and 
undergo the act expressed by the verb. Such a form, con- 
sisting of ieing, preceded by the present or the past indicative 
of be, and followed by the past participle of a verb — is being 
eaten, ivas being eaten — came into vogue during the past 
century. It came to prevent ambiguity ; but, like other 
forms, it has outgrown the original intention, and we now 
use it where the old form would be unambiguous. We may 
say. The house is being built, though a house cannot build. 

The form is confined to the present and the past indic- 
ative. 

George P. Marsh, writing about 1860, pronounces the new 



72 The English Language. 

combination ^'^an awkward neologism^ which neither con- 
venience^ intelligibility^ nor syntactical congruity demands/^ 
But surely its awkwardness is not obtrusive ; in use a hun- 
dred years when Marsh wrote, it seems hardly just to call it 
a ''neologism ;^^ and, preventing ambiguity, ''convenience 
and intelligibility "" do demand it. K. G. White cannot frame 
sentences strong enough to carry the weight of his hostility 
to it and to the man that coined it ; the one is, "an incon- 
gruous and ridiculous form of speech/^ and the other " a pre- 
cise and feeble-minded soul/^ 

But the form has thriven upon such criticism. Mr. White 
is flatly contradicted by the facts, when he affirms that the 
form "lacks the support of authoritative usage from the 
period of the earliest classical English to the present dayJ^ 
Of course, Macaulay, who professed to strain out the gnat 
its, unlike those spoken of elsewhere, did not swallow the 
camel misnamed "neologism \'^ but such sentences as these 
besprinkle the pages of the best literature of "the present 
day":- 

While my hand was being drest. — Coleridge. Realities which are he* 
ing acted before us. — Lamb. The bride that was being married to him. 
— De Quincey. While these letters ivere being written. — Sir H. Maine, 
A time when men were being lijted into nobleness. — J. R. Green, Which 
is being done by means of it. — Morley. These investigations are con- 
stantly being made. — Seeley. The corpuscles enter the eggs while they 
are being formed. — Huxley, At this very moment souls are being led 
into the Catholic Church. — Newman, A sign of what is being felt, 
— Martineau, 

In our collected instances the new form stands to the old 
in the ratio of three to one. 

XXIX. Concluding Remarks upon Inflections. — We have 
now said what seemed needful upon the loss of inflections 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon. — The Verb. 73 

undergone by the Anglo-Saxon in becoming English. This 
loss, begun before the Conquest, took place largely during 
the centuries immediately following it. It was then that the 
guardianship of the language was in the hands of ignorant 
men ; when the dialect of Wessex, in which the Anglo-Saxon 
that has reached us was written, had lost its authority, and 
every man was a law unto himself. It is at such times that 
grammatical disintegration is most rapid. Grammati- 
cal changes do occur at other times, but the point to accent 
is, that they take place more slowly then. It is literature 
that gives to language much of its fixedness. Every gram- 
matical change on the printed page challenges the attention 
of many, who, if conservative in anything, are so in speech. 
Indeed, the change cannot be made except by their suffrage, 
for usage alone determines what is law in language. 

Loss of grammatical terminations is not nniistial. All 
highly inflected languages suffer it. The Anglo-Saxon was 
unique only in the rapidity and in the extent of it. In the 
earlier, the synthetic, era, forms multiply until what seem 
afterward to be useless distinctions are registered in them, 
burdening the memory, and encumbering the machinery of 
expression. Then abandonment begins, and the language 
enters upon its analytic stage. It adds efficiency, as did the 
steam-engine, by simplification. Witness, in proof, the gain 
made by dropping the dative and instrumental cases, the 
dual number, and the declensions of the adjective. 

But, as the language in its synthetic stage took on forms 
subsequently thought needless, so in its analytic period it may 
throw away what afterward we might like to recover. There 
seems to be no good reason why a language may not resume 
cast-off forms, though it seldom or never does. But it may 
take on wholly new ones, and this, too, when the analytic 



74 The English Language, 

tendency is rif est^, and the changes most sweeping. We have 
seen that within a century and a quarter a continuous pas- 
sive in the present and the imperfect has been added to 
our grammatical equipment. We have seen^ too, that our 
Anglo-Saxon method of comparison has been reinforced by a 
second, the adverbial, and that now we uniformly place to 
before the infinitive. This addition and this extension, we 
wish to say parenthetically, have been made in face of the 
claim that a mixture of grammars is impossible ; for we bor- 
rowed the one from the French, and did the other largely 
under the compulsion of French analogy. 

Disuse of forms does not prove indifference to the 
distinctions which they indicate. These distinctions can be 
made in other ways. Indeed, the dropping of inflections has 
been continued in English while intellectual discrimination 
has been keenest, and while expression has kept pace in ex- 
actness with the growing definiteness of thought. It would 
be easy to show how, by our auxiliary verbs, our adjectives, 
and adverbs, modal and other, and our prepositional phrases, 
we can express more delicate relations and finer shades of 
distinction than by any multiplication of cases or other 
grammatical forms. 

We might say, in closing, that along with the extinction 
of forms, and in consequence of it, words in English have 
lost something of their old freedom of position in the sen- 
tence. For when, in their terminations, words have ticketed 
upon them their relations to other words, they can stand al- 
most anywhere in the sentence without disguising these rela- 
tions and obscuring the thought. 

But it is to be noted that where this freedom of position is 
very great, little is likely to be made of it in the matter of 
style. The very commonness of the possession incapacitates 



Grammatical Changes of Anglo-Saxon, — The Verb. 75 

it for service ; just as in Latin and Greek, rhyme was not 
used, because, through a surfeit of like terminations, rhyming 
would have been easy. But any abridgment of freedom of 
position puts a price upon what remains, and makes posi- 
tion a valuable factor in expression. In a language like 
ours, then, where the place of words is by no means rigidly 
fixed, nor yet wholly without restriction, a word or a phrase, 
depending for its force upon those with which it is imme- 
diately yoked, can have its force brought out to the full ; 
and the point of a sentence, resting in great measure upon 
the arrangement of its parts, can be perfectly secured. In 
such a language, the art of proper placing is hardly secondary 
to that of apt selection ; and the skill and success of our 
literary commanders largely lie in the happy marshalling 
of their verbal hosts. 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE DIALECTS IN" ENGLISH. 

XXX. The Differences between the Dialects. — As Ave saw, 
the Teutonic invaders of the island were not one people^ but 
three, and they settled in different portions of Britain. Their 
linguistic differences, aggravated by the settlement of the 
Danes in the north, by the more active communication kept 
up between this portion of Britain and the continent, and by 
the flocking of the Normans to the north in greater numbers 
than elsewhere — these original differences, thus intensified, 
could not but show themselves in differences of speech per- 
sisting even after these peoples blended with the Norman- 
French, and the English language began. At all events, the 
grammatical changes of which we have been speaking, 
changes in the noun and the verb particularly, changes 
which it took centuries to make, did not take place through- 
out England at the same uniform, rate. The consequence 
was, that during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the 
language of England was not univocal ; dialects prevailed, 
dialects differing essentially from each other. 

The geographical boundaries between these ran east 
and west ; the men of these parts, '' as it were under the same 
portion of heaven, agreeing more in the sound of their speech 
than men of the north with men of the south. ^^ That spoken 
north of the Humber, and as far as to the Firth of Forth, 
was called the Northern Dialect ; that spoken between the 



The Dialects in English, 77 

Humber and the Thames was called the Midland Dialect ; 
and that between the Thames and the southern coast^ the 
Southern Dialect. The two differing most were those widest 
apart geographically. 

In the matter of grammar^ the Northern was radical , 
and abandoned its inflections without reluctance, attaining^ 
by the beginning of the fourteenth century^ the simplicity of 
modern English. The Southern was conservative, and held 
to the old inflections with great tenacity. And, in the mat- 
ter of sounds, the Northern generally retained the hard, gut- 
tural sounds of the Anglo-Saxon ; the Southern softened 
these into palatals. 

1. The Noun, — The Northern dialect led the way in drop- 
ping the plural en (Anglo-Saxon an) ending, and in giving 
to nouns the plural ending es or s (Anglo-Saxon masculine 
as of the vowel declension). The s of the genitive they 
often dropped. The Southern clung tenaciously to the plu- 
ral en, and even extended it to nouns which in Anglo- 
Saxon were of the vowel declension. 

2. The Pronoun. — In the Northern, the double genitive 
oures, yoiires, hires, and heres occur side by side with 
oure, youre, hire, and liere. These double genitives we 
keep in ours, yours, hers, and theirs. The Southern added 
n instead of s, and said our en, your en, hiren, her en {their' n), 
which, somewhat changed, survive in provincial English now. 

3. The Verb. — The Northern (1) led in exchanging for s 
the th of the third person singular indicative present eth ; 
(2) used es in place of est in the second person ; (3) at times 
made the first person end in s ; and (4) made the present 
plural in s. It often dropped (1) the ending of the third 
singular ; (2) the plural ending throughout ; (3) the ed of 
the preterite ; and (4) hardly ever used the prefix y or i in its.. 



78 The English Language, 

participles. The Southern dialect held fast to the th of the 
third singular and to the th of the plural throughout, and 
imitated the Northern in none of the changes initiated by it. 

4. Orthography, — Anglo-Saxon cyrice, cernan, cist, re- 
taining the h sound of c, became Mrk, hern, and hist, in the 
Northern, but church, churn, and chest in the Southern. 
Anglo-Saxon /ox remained /o.-?; in the Northern, became vox 
in the Southern. Anglo-Saxon Irycg was iryg in the North 
and iridge in the South. Stan, mar, are static and mare in 
the North, and stone and more in the South. 

We may add that some Scandinavian words in the North 
are absent from the dialect of the South. 

The Midland dialect rttediated between these two. Hav- 
ing over both the Northern and the Southern the advantages 
of London, the Court, the two Universities, and great authors 
like Chaucer, it took what it chose from each ; or, as in 
the case of the present plural in en, it rejected the authority 
of both, crowded them to the wall, and in the end became 
the national language. Still, for a long while it felt the 
influence of both. Shakespeare has more than two hundred 
plurals of verbs in s, Lounsbury says ; one hundred and sixty- 
eight, according to March. Even after the modernization of 
Shakespeare^s plays by his editors, four verbs with plurals in 
s — lies, aches, fares, dindi falls — are found in The Tempest, 
it is said. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE A:N"GL0-SAX0K AISTD THE LATi:^" I:N" OUR VOCABULARY. 

The Norman words^ properly Latin^ cajue into English 
(1) to supply the demands of the blended peoples for terms 
to denote things and express thoughts which the Saxons 
never had^ and so had no words to denote. They came (2) 
to fill the gap caused by the loss of words which the Anglo- 
Saxons before the Conquest did have. They came (3) as 
contestants for the places already filled by the Anglo-Saxon. 
In this contest the Latin {a) sometimes dislodged the Anglo- 
Saxon. Lcibor and toil do duty now instead of sivincan, 
and voice has supplanted stefen. Often in the struggle the 
Latin {h) divided the ground with the Anglo-Saxon. Color 
exists side by side with liitv, or lute, ^nd Joy with Niss. But 
oftener^ perhaps, the Anglo-Saxon (c) held their positions, 
and the Latin words never secured the coveted footing in 
the language. 

JLatin words have come in, in great numbers, since^ to 
satisfy the demands of our ever-increasing knowledge and 
higher development. For little attempt has been made to 
meet these insatiable requirements by any effort to compound 
into new vocables the old Anglo-Saxon material preserved. 

These, too, have entered into contest with the Anglo- 
Saxon for the places occupied by them. 

XXXI. What Words belong to Each Element. — We may 



80 The English Language, 

say that all the pronouns ; the numerals ; the irregular verbs 
(except strive), including the auxiliaries ; the prepositions 
and the conjunctions (excepting save, except, concerning, 
and because and a few others) are Anglo-Saxon. A slight 
percentage of the other words are Indo-European ; some are 
Celtic, some Scandinavian, some (xreek, and some have been 
adopted from the peoples with whom the English have had 
intercourse. 

The remainder are Anglo-Saxon and Latin. It is of this 
remainder f the bulk of the vocabulary, more than ninety 
per cent, of it, that we wish now to speak. And we shall 
speak more plainly if we speak specifically, if we throw 
these words into classes and look at them there. We can- 
not give all the classes, cannot give all the words in each 
class. To do this would require hundreds of pages. But 
perhaps the classes, and the words in each class, may be made 
representative ; if so, selecting and studying the few, we ma)^ 
safely draw conclusions respecting all. 

We will here say that tinder each heading the first list 
of tvords is Anglo- Saocon ; the second^ Latin. 

1. The Names of Trees ^ Plants^ Flowei^s, and their 
Parts. 

Ash, berry, birch, blade, blossom, bough, daisy, elm, harebell, hem- 
lock, ivy, leaf, limb, maple, moss, oak, oxslip, root, sap, sprig, stalk, 
stem, thistle, twig, walnut, and willow. 

Bulb, carnation, columbine, dandelion, fennel, foliage, fruit, gourd, 
herb, larch, lichen, lotus, pansy, petal, pine, pistil, pollen, poplar, 
poppy, stamen, trunk, vine, and violet. 

2. Names of Cereals, Vegetables ^ and Fruits. 

Apple, barley, bean, corn, cranberry, oats, rye, and wheat. 
Grain, onion, parsnip, pea, pear, pulse, radish, and squash. 



The Anglo- Saxon and the Latin in our Vocabulary, 81 

3. Names of Anifnals^ Domestic and Other. 

Ant, bear, bee, bird, boar, bull, calf, cat, chicken, colt, cow, crow, 
dove, duck, flea, fly, fowl, frog, gnat, goat, hare, heifer, hen, horse, 
lamb, lark, midge, mouse, owl, sheep, snake, spider, toad, wasp, and 
worm. 

Beast, biped, brute, caterpillar, eagle, falcon, insect, lizard, male, 
oriole, oyster, pigeon, porcupine, quadruped, reptile, salmon, serpent, 
vermin, viper, and vulture. • 

4. Names of Parts of the ^ody, Human and Other. 

Ankle, beard, blood, bone, breast, brain, brow, cheek, chin, claw, ear, 
elbow, eye, fat, finger, hair, hand, hip, hoof, horn, lip, liver, mouth, 
nail, neck, nose, rib, shoulder, sinew, skin, thigh, throat, thumb, 
tongue, and wrist. 

Abdomen, antennae, entrails, face, gullet, intestines, loin, muscle, 
nerve, palate, serum, spine, tendon, vein, and vertebra. 

5. Names of Buildings for Dwelling and Other Pur- 
poses^ and their Parts. 

Barn, beam, floor, glass, house, hovel, latch, lath, oven, rafter, roof, 
room, shed, shelf, shop, stair, and threshold. 

Apartment, casement, castle, cellar, ceiling, chapel, college, cupola, 
domicile, edifice, flue, fort, foundation, hotel, joist, kitchen, mortar, 
pane, pantry, partition, plaster, porch, post, sash, spire, stable, tower, 
and wall. 

6. Names of Household A7*ticles. 

Bed, bolster, bowl, broom, knife, looking-glass, needle, shears, sheet, 
sieve, spoon, stool, thimble, and tongs. 

Bureau, carpet, coverlet, cup, curtain, cushion, fork, kettle, lamp, 
mat, mirror, napkin, pan, pail, pin, pillow, plate, scissors, table, and 
utensil. 

7. Names of Farm Implements, 

Auger, axe, hammer, harrow, ladder, rake, saw, scythe, shovel, spade, 
trough, wedge, and yoke. 

Chisel, flail, lever, mallet, and sickle. 
6 



82 Tlie English Language, 

8. Nouns Denoting Time. 

Day, evening, fortnight, morning, month, morrow, night, week, year, • 
and yesterday. 

Age, century, era, eternity, instant, millennium, minute, moment, 
noon, and second. 

9. Nouns Denoting Occupation. 

Blacksmith, fisherman, lawyer, preacher, saddler, sailor, shepherd, 
shoemaker, steward, and teacher. 

Accountant, author, barber, doctor, editor, farmer, grocer, hostler, 
instructor, laundress, manufacturer, merchant, minister, publisher, and 
soldier. 

10. Nouns Denoting Civil Organization and Rank 
in Life. 

Alderman, borough, churl, earl, henchman, lady, lord, king, queen, 
sheriff, shire, and thane. 

Bail, bill, chancellor, constable, consul, coroner, council, convention, 
countess, court, duke, judge, jury, legislator, magistrate, mayor, par- 
liament, plaintiff, prince, prison, realm, republic, secretary, senate, ser- 
vant, sovereign, and viscount. 

11. Verbs Denoting Physical Acts. 

Bake, blush, borrow, carve, climb, cram, dip, drain, fasten, fetch, 
flow, gather, gleam, gnaw, grin, hitch, knead, limp, mark, pound, 
prick, pull, reach, reap, row, scatter, shove, sift, singe, stoop, stretch, 
thump, tie, trim, twist, wade, whittle, wipe, wriggle. 

Adhere, annex, arrest, ascend, bisect, chain, chase, chastise, collect, 
condense, confine, defend, deliver, destroy, disinfect, dispel, divide, 
elude, emerge, enter, escape, expend, expel, extort, feast, flog, fortify, 
impede, infuse, insert, invade, measure, mend, paint, pave, plunge, pre- 
cede, protract, soar, stop, stain, surprise, travel, vibrate, and visit. 

12. Verbs Eocpressing Acts of the Mind. 

Believe, care, deem, dread, heed, hope, like, love, reckon, soothe, 
stare, thank, wish, and worship. 

Admire, approve, aspire, conjecture, consider, deliberate, deplore, 



The Anglo-Saxon and the Latin in our Vocabulary, 83 

desire, despise, disdain, distinguish, enjoy, envy, esteem, excuse, favor, 
imagine, infer, observe, ponder, recognize, recollect, reflect, remember, 
repent, resent, revere, revert, and suffer. 

13. Nouns Denoting Acts^ Feelings , JPossessions, 
Products^ and Powers of the Mind. 

Belief, dread, choice, dream, fear, guilt, hate, love, mood, pride, 
shame, sight, sorrow, thought, will, wisdom, wit, and worry. 

Admiration, anguish, animosity, aspiration, assurance, benevolence, 
conscience, consideration, contumely, courage, culture, desire, de- 
spair, dignity, disappointment, disgust, disposition, envy, esteem, 
faith, favor, felicity, fidelity, gratitude, grief, homage, humor, indigna- 
tion, innocence, instinct, intellect, joy, malevolence, merit, motive, 
notion, opinion, perception, purpose, reason, remorse, sense, terror, 
vanity, vengeance, virtue, and volition. 

14. Adjectives. 

Bare, black, brittle, broad, brown, busy, chilly, clean, cool, damp, 
dark, deep, dim, dingy, dreary, dry, early, empty, fair, fresh, full, glad, 
good, great, green, hard, high, hollow, lame, loud, mad, mean, mellow, 
near, new, proud, quick, raw, red, right, ripe, rough, shabby, sick, 
silly, slow, sorry, sour, stark, stilf, stingy, strong, thin, tough, true, 
warm, wary, wet, white, wide, wise, wrong, yellow, and young. 

Able, accurate, adequate, acute, appropriate, arduous, audible, bland, 
capacious, cautious, complete, conspicuous, curt, decent, delicate, de- 
licious, dense, discreet, docile, elegant, enormous, equal, extraordinary, 
facile, famous, false, fertile, fierce, floral, frivolous, frugal, formidable, 
general, generous, genial, grand, haughty, honest, lax, ludicrous, mag- 
nanimous, magnificent, mature, modest, moral, nude, null, obscure, 
obvious, pallid, partial, perfect, pious, possible, proper, prudent, rel- 
evant, religious, ridiculous, sacred, serene, sincere, tedious, total, 
various, and virile. 

By prefixing the Latin in, or the Anglo-Saxon un, to many 
of the adjectives in these lists^, a set of negative adjectives 
may be formed ; and by adding the Anglo-Saxon ly {lihe) 
to most of the affirmative and the negative adjectives^ these 
may be converted into adverbs. 



84 The Englisli Language, 

As we promised, we have omitted^ from classification^ 
irregular verbs, pronouns, numeral adjectives, prepositions, 
and conjunctions. These are practically all Anglo-Saxon. 
We have confined ourselves to the remaining Anglo-Saxon 
and to the Latin. And of these we have only hegun the 
grouping, both in the number of classes made, and in the 
filling up of these few. But have we not done- enough to 
warrant a few generalizations ? 

The names of such things (1) in the animal and vegetable 
worlds as were native to the island, and generally known be- 
fore the Conquest ; the names (2) of the outward parts of 
the animal body, and of those internal organs that easily 
reveal their presence ; (3) of common buildings and their 
necessary parts ; (4) of the household equipment that families 
living in such houses must have ; (5) of such farm imple- 
ments as a people rude in arts and agriculture could make 
and use ; (6) of occupations mainly manual ; (7) of the 
essential divisions of time ; (8) the verbs that express many 
of the customary acts in the material world and operations 
in the mental ; and (9) adjectives that denote obvious sen- 
sible qualities, and the obtrusive attributes of the intellect, 
of the emotional nature, and of character ; — these are mainly 
Anglo-Saxon. 

But to name (1) things in the animal and vegetable king- 
doms seen by travel ; (2) to denote buildings higher and 
more complex than the common dwelling, and to mark those 
parts of them and those belongings to them unfamiliar to the 
Anglo-Saxons, but needful, we should think, even for com- 
fort ; (3) to indicate those parts of the body and their func- 
tions which science has disclosed ; to denote (4) the longer 
or the more minute divisions of time, and the occupations 
that indicate higher culture ; and (5) generally, to mark the 



Tlie Anglo-Saxon and tlie Latin in our VocaiuJary. 85 

less ordinary physical acts, requiring, many of them, plan and 
combination, and to denote the less obvious objects and quali- 
ties of objects in the outward world ; — to do these things we 
draw largely upon the Latin element of the language. And 
when we turn to the words in English exjoressive (6) of civil 
and social organization, or used (7) to denote intellectual acts, 
states, qualities, powers, possessions, products, or required 
(8) to express the higher feelings and the traits of character, 
or needed (9) to denote classes and general notions, — we 
find the contrast between the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin 
in English most striking. It is in words expressive of these 
things that the Anglo-Saxon element is painfully lacking. 

These distinctions, made between the two grand elements 
of our vocabulary, we should find ratified did we push our ex- 
amination into other fields, especially into the more scientific 
— though here the Latin is generously aided by the Greek. 
Some of the deficiencies of the Anglo-Saxon may be ac- 
counted for by claiming that Anglo-Saxon words have per- 
ished, and others by the fact that Scandinavian words do 
duty occasionally for them ; but Ave think that in the com- 
parison just made, the present state of the Anglo-Saxon 
and of the Latin in the English vocabulary is not unfaith- 
fully pictured. 

XXXII. The Anglo-Saxon and the Latin in Use. — We have 
been speaking of these two elements as found in the diction- 
ary. Eortunately, we are able to say something resjDecting 
them in use. It fell to us not long since to make an ex- 
tended examination of the words eminent writers and speak- 
ers choose. The examination was made in looking into the 
charge brought against Eufus Choate that he employed a 
diction unduly Latinized. 

The different words found in his works were gathered to- 



86 The English Language, 

gether and arranged alphabetically. Twenty other distin- 
guished men — ten British and ten American — were chosen. 
From each of these a speech^ an argument at the bar^ an ora- 
tion^ or some chapters of a book were taken^ and the words 
of each were also alphabetically placed. No word in any one 
of the twenty-one lists thus formed was counted more than 
once^ unless the several forms of it were from distinct roots ; 
only one degree of an adjective or an adverb ; only one of 
the six or seven possible forms of any verb ; only one case of 
any noun or pronoun. Let this be borne in mind. Had 
each word been counted at its every appearance^ the show- 
ing we are about to make would be very different ; for let us 
sa}^^ once for all^, that the words constantly reappearing 
are Anglo-Saxon. 

The classes formed were five — (1) the Teutonic (almost en- 
tirely Anglo-Saxon); (2) the Latin ; (3) the Greek; (4) the 
Indo-European ; and (5) the Scattering. After the classifi- 
cation^ a count was made^ and the percentages were reached. 
The curious may care to know that the comparison com- 
pletely relieved Mr. Choate of the charge^ thirteen of the 
twenty using a proportion of Latin words larger than his. 

The worth of the comparison to us^ however^ lies in the light 
which it throws upon the use great writers and speakers make 
of the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin. Their relative value for 
literary purposes is seen in the levy which these learned men^ 
in their characteristic efforts^ make upon these elements. 

The general belief (1) that for ordinary communication we 
make the heaviest drafts upon the Anglo-Saxon ; (2) that 
the words coming most frequently to the tongue and often- 
est repeated on the page are Anglo-Saxon ; and (3) that, 
while on social or business topics we can construct whole 
paragraphs without a word of Latin, it is all but impossible 



The Anglo-Saxon and the Latin in our Vocabulary, 87 

to frame a sentence without the Anglo-Saxon ; — this belief 
the figures of the comparison do not disturb. And this is 
much to confess ; for it is an acknowledgment that our 
dependence upon the Anglo-Saxon is absolute, so far as it 
extends. Nor do these figures (4) give the number of the 
Anglo-Saxon and of the Latin words in our vocabulary, or 
(5) settle their ratio to each other, or (6) decide the ques- 
tion whether, had our ancestors of the thirteenth and four- 
teenth centuries imitated the ancient Greeks or the modern 
Germans, and formed new words by compounding native 
material, we might not now be using a vocabulary all of 
a piece, and yet ample for our utmost needs. But when 
twenty-one representative authors in their representative 
efforts use a per cent, of Latin words varying from 56J- to 
72|- (of Latin and Greek together, from 63^^ to "I^^-q) over 
against a per cent, of Teutonic ranging only from 26 to 33y^ 
— when, we repeat, this is the exhibit made by the compari- 
son, we think we are warranted in claiming that, at least, we 
cannot do without the Latin words in our English ; that, 
when we rise above the commonplace in matter and in man- 
ner, we find such words indispensable. We say indispeiisa- 
hie ; for, while the ferry-boat that takes us daily to our place 
of business is indispensable, is not the transatlantic steamer 
that bears us to Europe, even though we go but once ? 

But, just as it is difficult to tell how much of the English- 
man or of his achievements is due to his Germanic and how 
much to his Latin ancestry, so it is impossible to estimate 
precisely what his style or his literature owes to words from 
each of these sources. It would seem, however, that these 
two classes of words, mingling freely in the current of every 
English sentence, have dwelt so long and pleasantly together 
that we cannot with propriety continue to call either class 



88 Tlie English Language, 

foreign, alien. Often we cannot^ without close scrutiny^ tell 
which words are Latin and which are Anglo-Saxon. By 
some ear-marks, perhaps, but certainly not by their length, 
by their strangeness to him, or by his inability to handle 
them deftly, would any one of but average culture suspect 
that the following nouns, adjectives, and verbs belong to the 
Latin : — 

Age, art, cap, case, cent, cost, crust, fact, fault, form, ink, line, mile, 
noise, page, pain, pair, part, peace, pen, piece, pound, price, rule, soil, 
sound, ton, tone, and vail ; apt, chief, clear, cross, crude, easy, firm, 
frail, grand, grave, just, large, lazy, mere, nice, pale, plain, poor, pure, 
rare, real, rich, round, safe, scarce, square, sure, vain, and vast ; add, 
aid, aim, bet, boil, class, close, cook, cure, doubt, fail, fix, fry, mix, 
move, pass, pay, save, serve, strain, stray, train, try, turn, and use. 

These, and hundreds of other short Latin words, as well 
understood as the simplest Anglo-Saxon, are mostly without 
Saxon equivalents. But even those with Saxon duplicates 
are almost equally necessary ; they give to our speech a rich 
synonymy that aids us in making and in expressing the finer 
distinctions in thought. 

Besides, the Latin are often (1) the most forcible words in 
English. What Anglo-Saxon verb of teaching matches in 
vigor inculcate — to drive in with the heel ? What other 
adjective denoting health has the strength of robust — oaken r 
Such words, unfortunately, are pregnant with meaning only 
to the etymologist. In this they differ from what the vigor- 
ous, self -explaining Anglo-Saxon words would have been had 
that element been fostered. They give (2) conciseness to ex- 
pression ; like canals across isthmuses they shorten the route 
— witness mutual, reanimate, circumlocution, Oftener than 
the Anglo-Saxon they are (3) metaphorical, and flash upon 
the thought a poetic light ; as, dilapidated, applied to for- 



The Anglo-Saxon and the Latin in our Vocahulary. 89 

tune or dress ; ruined, to character ; luminous, to expression. 
They impart (4) grace and smoothness to style — are the ynusi- 
col, melodious, and mellifluous words of the language. They 
give (5) pomp and stateliness to discourse^ and make possible 
the grand manner of Sir Thomas Browne^ of Milton^ and of 
De Quincey. A vocabulary like ours^ duly compou.nded of 
the Teutonic and the Eomance^ has a manifoldness and an 
abounding ver*bal wealth that adapt it to every kind of writ- 
ing, and are Avonderfully stimulative of it. And so^ Avhile 
the literatures in other languages excels each in some single 
department^ ours is confessedly eminent in all. 

While it is difficult to exaggerate the work and the worth 
of the Anglo-Saxon in English^ we must say that we depre- 
cate what has been called the " violent reaction^' that has set 
in, in favor of it — a reaction which, carried to the extreme, 
would practically disinherit us of vast verbal possessions. 
But, without any wish to champion the Latin element, we 
may safely say that this reaction cannot be carried to the 
extreme. As soon expect to drive us back to the ancestral 
tunic and to wooden trenchers, or attempt to squeeze the 
full-grown fowl into its native egg-shell again. 

Hence we find the wise Alexander Bain breaking out, on 
the opening page of his work On Teaching English, into, 
" To write continuously in anything like pure Saxon is 
plainly impossible. Moreover, none of our standard Eng- 
lish authors, whether in prose or in poetry, have thought it 
a merit to be studiously Saxon in their vocabulary.'" 

The words chosen should be appropriate to the topic, and 
level to the comprehension of those addressed. Thus much 
we may properly insist upon ; but it would be unwise to 
encourage our pupils to seek for such words in the Anglo- 
Saxon element alone. 



CHAPTER X. 
sy:n^oxyms. 

As preliminary to the treatment of synonyms^ we wish to 
say that 

XXXIII. Some Words Widen their Meaning. — This widen- 
ing we will represent thus^ <\ . The telescope has revealed 
many facts concerning the moon, unknown to those who 
named that body. But we have not dropped the name for 
another ; moon remains, though it signifies now more than 
it did. 

XXXIV. Some Words Narrow their Meaning. — This nar- 
rowing we represent thus, >. Worm once had, in addition 
to its present meaning, all that snake, asp, serpent, and kin- 
dred words now express. Starve, in Chaucer, meant to die ; 
now, to die of hunger, or, simply, to famish. Creatures 
meant all created things ; now, only living things. 

To this tendency synonyms conform ; and this, whether 
they come, those of a group, from the different elements of 
our language or from the same element. The large ground 
of meaning once covered by both — symbolized by the space 
c in the first parallelogram below — is gradually divided be- 
tween the two, until 1-2 and 3-4 have narrowed, each, Ave 
will say, to one-half of 1-4, and c has disappeared as com- 
mon ground. 

XXXV. The Relations of Synonyms to Each Other. — Syno- 
nyms are words, in groups of twos or threes or more, which 



Synonyms. 91 

have a meaning in common^ but have also each a meaning 
wholly its own. They abound in English. They come, 
oftentimes, those of a group, from the same element of our 
speech ; frequently, from different elements. Their sources 
in English are largely the Anglo-Saxon and the Latin. When 
these were blending, the growing component had its choice 
between two words for the same thing. Often it chose one, 
but frequently it took both. Many of its early words the 
English has since duplicated or triplicated by borrowing 
directly from the Latin. 

Kestricting each word of a group to a part of the mean- 
ing once held in common by all is to make each word more 
specific ; is, in reality, to add to the resources of the vocabu- 
lary. From the beginning of English, the movement has 
been one of desynonyinizatioti. 

To exhibit the relation of synonyms to each other let us 
draw the parallelogram 1-4, 

2 4 



a 


c 


l 



1 3 

and divide it into the two parallelograms 1-2 and 3-4, with 
3-2 forming part of each. Now let us suppose the area 1-2 to 
represent the ground of meaning covered by one synonym, 
and 3-4 that covered by the other. 3-2, or the space marked 
c, will then picture that shared by the two synonyms ; a that 
which belongs exclusively to the first synonym ; and 1) that 
which belongs exclusively to the second. When then, below, 
we use the letters a, c, 5, it will be understood for what parts 
of the synonyms they stand. 

Bear in mind that a and i do not give the full meaning of 



92 The Englisli Language, 

the synonyms. Add c to a for the meaning of the first 
synonym^ and c to b for that of the second. 

If there are more than two in the group^ conceive the 
parallelogram c to be extended upwards and downwards. 
Each extension plus c will then symbolize another synonym^ 
and the complete figure will represent a group of four with 
the common meaning c. 

Sometimes the relation of the synonyms to each other is 
such that it would be better illustrated by the parallel- 
ogram divided thus : — 

2 4 



1 3 

Here 1-2 and 1-4 represent the two synonyms ; and c, their 
ground of common meaning, is all of the meaning covered 
by one of the synonyms — which synonym, then, has no mean- 
ing exclusively its own. 

To the Teacher, — You must determine how much time can be 
spared for work upon the synonyms below, and what shall be the 
length of each lesson. 

A.-S. = Anglo-Saxon ; L.=Latin ; Gk. =r Greek ; C. = Celtic ; 8.= 
Scandinavian ; A. = Arabian ; I.E. = Indo-European ; H.=Hebrew ; 
P.r=:Persian ; and G.=German ; F.=rFrench, but not Latin. 

I>irection, — Study (1) the meanings which the synonyms beloAv 
have in common ; (2) that which belongs exclusively to each ; (3) 
insert the right word in the illustrative sentences ; and (4) frame sen- 
tences of your own, using each synonym correctly. 

Bring and Fetch, both A.-S. ; c, all that is expressed by 
bring — to bear the object from its place to the one giving 
the order ; b, to go and get. 

As she was going to it, he called to her and said, me, I 

pray thee, a morsel of bread. — Bible, 



Synonyms. 93 

Jealousy (Gk.) and Envy (L.) ; c, a feeling excited in 
one ; a, by fear lest another may deprive one of his own ; b, 
by uneasiness at ano there's good fortune. 

Base withers at another's joy. — Thompson, The sick look with 

upon the well. lago aroused Othello's of Cassio. 

Hope (A.-S.) and JExjwct (L.) ; c, to look forward to 
something ; a, with desire for it ; b, with a conviction that it 
will occur whether desired or not. 

All to die. deferred maketh the heart sick. — Bible. While 

there is life there's . — Gay. 

News and Tidings^ both A.-S. ; Cy fresh information ; a, 
from any quarter^ and unlocked for ; h, from a particular 
quarter^ and looked for. 

The of Lincoln's death shocked us. The loss of the Oregon was 

startling . We waited for from Shi] oh. 

Healthy and Healthful, both A.-S. ; c, applicable to 
objects ; a, having health ; b, producing health. 

The climate is . food tends to make one . The trees 

of the orchard are . 

Discover and Invent, both L. ; c, to furnish something 
new ; a, by revealing what existed before ; b, to create 
something not existing before. 

The Chinese gunpowder. Newton the law of gravitation. 

Harvey the circulation of blood. 

Many (A.-S.) and Mtich (S.) ; c, copious^ abounding in ; 
a, number ; b, quantity. 

wheat is exported yearly . men of minds. 

An Untruth and a Lie, both A.-S. ; c, all that is covered 
by untruth — a statement lacking truth ; b, made wdth intent 
to deceive. 

Ananias was smitten dead for the he told. People unwittingly 

utter . 



94 The E7iglisli Language, 

Character (Gk.) and Mepiitation (L.) ; c, the sum of 
qualities ; a, which one really has ; b, which one is credited 
with having. 

Burr's unenviable grew out of his worthless . No man was 

ever wi-itten out of but by himself. — Monk. 

JBrutal and Brutish ^ both h. ; c, denoting qualities at- 
tributed to the brute ; a, savage^ cruel ; b, gross^ filthy. 

A drunkard wallowing in the gutter is ; a drunkard beating 

liis wife is . 

Can but and Cannot but^ both A.-S. ; c, possibility or 
necessity depending upon ; a, physical^ natural law ; b, 
moral law or restraint. 

We speak of things seen and heard. We think that God is 

good. Water run down hill. 

Grateful (L.) and Thankful (A.-S.) ; c, all that is de- 
noted by grateful — warm feeling towards a benefactor ; b, 
the expression of this feeling. 

A polite man is never without being also. 

Abstinence and Temperance, both L. ; c, the whole of 
temperance — restriction to a moderate use ; b, this restriction 
extended till it becomes total. 

Practice in youth, or you will be driven to in old age. 

Dissemblers (L.) and Hypocrites (Gk.) ; c, deceivers; 
a, who conceal what they are ; b, who feign to be what they 
are not. 

Andre within the American lines, in a citizen's clothes, was a ; 

Arnold, whom he visited, had long been a . 

Murder (A.-S.) and Assassinate (A.) ; c, the whole of 
murder — to kill with malicious forethought ; b, suddenly, 
and by stealth. 

William the Silent and Henry lY. were . Dr.Croniu was . 



Synonyms, 95 

Custom and Hahit, both L. ; c, the whole of rAistom — 
the frequent indulgence in an act ; l, till it becomes a second 
nature. 

Man is a bundle of . A more honored in the breach than in 

the observance. 

Emigrant and Im^migrant^ both L. ; c, applied to one 
moving from one country to another ; a, on leaving the one ; 
i, on reaching the other. i 

form a large portion of our population. leave European. 

ports daily. 

Memembrance^ Reminiscence, and Recollection, all 

L. ; c, the bringing again of something into the mind^ or 
consciousness ; a and h, without effort to recall it ; d, by 
conscious effort of the will. 

My of that event tallies with yours. In reverie and dreaming 

the act is one of , or . 

Genuine and Authentic, both L. ; c, express the correct- 
ness of a work ; a, respecting its assigned authorship ; i, its 
contents. 

The writings of the impostors Chatterton and Ireland are not . 

Macaulay's history is not perfectly . 

Ejmch (Gk.) and Era (L.) ; c, applied in the computa- 
tion of time to ; a, a> point from which time is reckoned ; i, 
a period, or succession, of time. 

We live in the Christian , in the of liberty, in the of 

letters. The American Revolution constitutes an in human his- 
tory. 

Capacity/ and Ability, both L. ; c, power ; a, receptive ; 
b, active. Abilities includes both ideas. 

Although the youth had only ordinary by application he be- 
came a man of marked . 



96 The English Language, 

Chastity and Chasteness^ both L. ; c, purity ; a, moral ; 
i, rhetorical. 

Swift is eminent for of style, but not for of thought. A 

pure style has . A pure woman has . 

Imagination (L.) and Fancy (Gk.) ; c, express the 
mind^s creative power ; a, the more profound, earnest, and 
logical ; h, the more playful and capricious. 

Nick Bottom is a product of the : Hamlet, of the . 

Enthusiasm (Gk.) and Fanaticism (L.) ; c, the whole 
of enthusiasm — ardent zeal, fervor ; h, intolerance of all 
opposition. 

characterizes the Mohammedan, the Christian. The Pil- 
grims were for religious liberty, not . 

Laconic (Gk.) and Concise (L.) ; c, all of concise — with- 
out needless words ; a, brief. 

Napier's telegram from India, peccavi, I have sinned (Scinde), was 
— — . Text-books should be . 

Enough (A.-S.) and Sufficient {1a.) ; c, ample to satisfy ; 
a, our desires ; i, our needs. 

Many a man has wealth, but not . No man has acquired 

knowledge. 

Illegible (L.) and Unreadable (A.-S.) ; c, that may not 
be read; because a, indistinct ; i, unfit, improper. 

Portions of Tolstoi are . Choate's hand-writing was -. 

Happen (A.-S.) and Transpire (L.) ; c, used of acts 
and events ; a, their occurrence ; 5, their becoming known, 
coming to publicity. 

The secrets of the Cabinet . The Mexican war in 1847. It 

that Bismarck and the Emperor were not in accord. 



Synonyms. 97 

Knowledge (I.-E.) and Wisdom (A.-S.) ; c, attainments ; 
fl, facts, truths, principles ; l, power of judging and acting 
rightly. 

comes, but lingers. — Tennyson. is proud that he 

has learned so much, is humble that he knows no more. — Cowper. 

Education and Instruction^ both L. ; c, processes of 
mental culture ; a, by drawing forth from within, by disci- 
pline, awakening of powers ; I, by the pouring in of infor- 
mation. 

'Tis forms the common mind. is needful in the process of 

. Many a well man is not highly . 

Apprehend and Comprehend^ both L. ; c, all of appre- 
Jiend — a laying hold of ; Z>, all that follows till mastery is 
attained. 

It is easy to that there is a God, impossible to him. 

Genius and Talent^ both L. ; c, powers of the mind ; a, 
high, peculiar, creative, natural ; S, reached by a vigorous 
training, and a full command of our faculties. 

may be likened to a cistern, to a spring or fountain. 

needs opportunities, creates them for itself. Napoleon was a man 

of ; Wellington, a man of . 

Bleach (A.-S.), Blanch (L.), and Whiten (A.-S.) ; c, to 
make white ; a and b^ by removing the original color ; d, by 
superimposing a white substance, as paint, upon objects of 
another color. 

We walls and fences, cotton, and almonds. Fear 

the cheek. 

Inability and Disability , both L. ; c, absence of ability, 
because the ability was ; a, never bestowed or acquired ; h, 
though once possessed, it is now lost. 

We speak of the of the insane, of the of minors to own 

property, of the of wounded soldiers. 

7 



98 The English- Language. 

Unbelief and Disbelief , both A.-S. ; c, lack of belief; 
a, from ignorance or want of evidence ; by from positive 
rejection of evidence. 

The atheist cherishes . The mass of people are in a state of 

regarding Darwinism. The Pharisees in Christ. 

Allude to and Mention ^ both L. ; c, to notice; a, by a hint, 
a mere reference to ; h, by an announcement, an account of. 

''Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed by a kiss '' what ? Must 

expect to receive your reward in a certain place which 'tis not good 
manners to here. — Tom Brown, Laconics, 

Eternal (L.) and Everlasting (A.-S.) ; c^ all of everlast- 
ing — without end ; a, without beginning. 

The doctrine of punishment, of God's existence. 

Tame (A.-S.) and Gentle (L.) ; c, applied to animals, 
docile and manageable ; a, made so by the art of man ; h, 
naturally so. 

The lamb is . The bear is sometimes . The zebra is not 

, and, it is said, cannot be made . 

Tolerate and Terfrtit^ both L. ; c, all of tolerate — to put 
up with ; i, to consent to, to authorize. 

We should every one's worshiping in his own way ; indeed, we 

should it. 

Mational and Reasonable^ both L. ; c, all of rational — 
having reason ; Z>, exercising it. 

A being may do things that are not . Napoleon III. was 

; his war with Germany did not prove him . 

Fault and Defect^ both L. ; c, an imperfection which 
impairs excellence ; a, positive ; 5, negative, a coming short. 

Excusing of a doth make the the worse by the excuse. — 

Shakespeare, A child with one arm has a , with a club-foot has a 

. A stammerer has a . 



Synonyms. 99 

Neighborhood (A.-S.) and Vicinity (L.) ; c, all of 
vicinity — nearness ; a, greater^ more immediate. 

Houses in a square are in the same . Albany and Troy are in 

the same — — . We live in the of the sea. 

Exile and Banish ^ both Li, ; c^ all of exile — exclusion 
from native land ; b^ from adopted^ also. 

The Tarquins were from Rome. Those sent to Siberia go into 

. Coriolanus was . 

Safe and Secure^ both Jj. ; c, denote exemption from ; a, 
danger ; i, apprehension of danger. 

The child sleeps . Guarded by its pickets, the army is reasonably 

-. bind, safe . Indemnity for the past, and for the 

future. — Pitt, 

Haste and Hurry^ both S. ; c, quickness of movement ; 
a, with order and plan ; h, with heedlessness and irregular- 
ity. 

A sensible man may be in • but never in a . thee, 

nymph, and bring with thee. — Milton. 

Deplore and Larnefitf both L. ; c, all of lament — to suf- 
fer pain and distress on account of something ; a, without 
power to remedy. 

We the ruin caused by an earthquake. We the wretched- 
ness of the poor, and the desolation of war. 

Direction. — We give below a few groups of synonyms without 
marking the common meaning. Do with them as requested in 2, 3, 
and 4 of Direction above. 

Idle (A.-S.), unemployed ; averse to doing anything use- 
ful. Indolent (L.) denotes a love of ease, or an aversion to 
effort. Lazy (L.), averse to bodily effort — more contempt- 
uous than indolent. 

Why stand ye here all the day ? — BiUe, An mind is not 



100 Tlie English Language. 

capable of true enjoyment. Shall we stretch our bodies on our 

beds while the world is hard at work ? An mind is the devil's 

work-shop. 

Industry (L.) implies habitual devotion to labor. Dili- 
gence (L.) denotes earnest application to some specific 
object or pursuit. {Industrious, adj.; diligent, adj.) 

A man is who is actually employed, and if disposed always 

to be employed. 

Courage (L.)^ that firmness of spirit that meets danger 
without fear, bravery (0.)^, that courage which shows it- 
self in outward acts. Gallantry (G.), adventurous courage. 
Intrepidity (L.)^ firm courage. Fortitude (L.)^ passive 
courage ; bearing up nobly under trial. Heroism (Gk.) 
calls into existence all the modifications of courage, and 
comes from a noble devotion to some great cause. 

is useful in the hour of attack ; is of service at all times. 

The history of the American Revolution furnishes many instances of 

true . Washington and his troops at Valley Forge gave the 

world an example of . The of the general in resisting the 

attack of a superior force, and the of his dashing officers were prop- 
erly commended. 

Distinguished (L.), standing apart from others .in the 
public view, — as for learning and public services. Eminent 
(L.), standing out above the rest, — as for learning, skill, or 
piety. Celebrated (L.), widely spoken of with honor, — 
as for benevolent deeds or discoveries. Henowned (L.), 
named again and again with honor for some signal deed. 
Famous (L.), widely spoken of as extraordinary, — as for 
talents or eccentricities. Illustrious (L.), possessing a 
-splendor which confers the highest dignity, — as for virtues 
or noble deeds. Noted (I.-E.), well known by reputation, 
— as for talents. Notorious (I.-E.), widely known, usually 



Synonyms. 101 

to disadvantage ; always so with us, but not always in 
England. 

Sir William Hamilton was a metaphysician. The physician 

soon became in his profession. There are authors whom to 

censure would endanger one's reputation. Napoleon was ; Alex- 
ander was ; Washington was . characters excite many 

remarks from friends and enemies. characters are generally 

shunned. 

Calamity (A.-S.), any cause of great misery or extensive 
evil. 2>i8a8f6r (L.), a sudden and distressing event. Mis- 
foHivne (L.), ill fortune; evil accident. Mischance (L.). 
or Mishap (S.), a trivial misfortune. 

A seldom arises from the direct agency of man. generally 

arise from the carelessness of persons, or the unfitness of things for their 
use. often come without any specific cause. A slight de- 
tained him. 

Abandon (L. ), to give uj) wholly, — as vice, a ship. Desei^ 
(L.), to run away from ; to part from, — as a post of duty, a 
friend. Forsake (A.-S.), to draw away from, — as bad 
habits, companions. Relinquish (L.), to give up or let go 
under pressure, — as the grasp, a claim, purposes. Surren- 
der (L.), to give over (usually under a necessity), — as a fort, 
oner's Avill. 

We have all and followed thee. — Bible. We our hopes. 

The soldiers of Hannibal themselves to pleasure at Capua. He 

foolishly himself to the tempter. He will not the cause. 

Account (L.), statement of a single event, or a series of 
events taken as a w^hole, — as a shij)wreck, a battle. Narra- 
tive (L.), a story of connected incidents, — as the events of a 
siege, one's life. Descrijytion (L.), a sketch or picture in 
words, — as of a person, a sunrise. 

Readers are charmed witli Milton's of paradise. of the 



102 The English Language, 

accident were received from different sources. The of his advent- 
ures in Africa was given to the public. 

Speech (A.-S.)^ a form of words bearing on some topic of 
common interest to speaker and hearer. Address (L.), a 
form of words directed to some person or body of persons. 
Oration (L.), an elaborate speech for a special occasion. 
Harangue (Gr.)^ a noisy^ vehement appeal to the passions. 
Declamation (L.)^ delivery of a memorized speech or exer- 
cise^ as in schools ; loud and empty speaking in public. 

The mayor delivered an of welcome. The senator made a 

strong in support of the bill. The general made a to his 

troops on the eve of battle. Webster delivered the at the laying 

of the corner-stone. The audience pronounced it mere . 

Diction (L.) refers to the choice and construction of 
words where clearness and accuracy are at stake. Style (L.) 
applies both to language and thought^ and refers to the artis- 
tic character of the composition ; as^, a graceful, polished, 
poetic, or forcible style, Phraseology (Gk.), particular or 
distinctive form of words. 

The of Burke was enriched with all the higher graces of compo- 
sition ; his was pure and clear ; his was, at times, cumber- 
some. 

Discernment (L.), keenness and accuracy of mental 
vision. JPenetration (L.), power of seeing deeply into 
things. Discrimination (L.), capacity of tracing out 
minute distinctions and nice shades of thought. Judgment 
(L.), the faculty of comparing and weighing things, and 
deciding aright in reference to them. 

serves to remove all obscurity and confusion. pierces 

every veil which falsehood draws before truth. detects the 

slightest differences. When called upon to take any step, or act any 
part, we must employ , 



Synonyms. 103 

Beautiful (L.)^ having that assemblage of graces or prop- 
erties which pleases the senses (especially the sight) or the 
mind ; as^ beautiful scenery, woman, or thought. JPretty 
(C), pleasing by delicacy or grace, — applying to things 
comparatively small ; as, pretty face, floAver, or cottage. 
Handsome (A.-S.), agreeable to the eye or to correct taste; 
suitable ; as, liandsome face, house, apology, or fortune. 

We should not say that a man is or , but he may be . 

sunset ; tale ; horse. 

Gleam (A.-S.), to begin to give a faint but distinct 
light. Glim^ifner (S*.), to give an indistinct, unsteady light. 
Glitter (S.), to give a bright, but broken and varied, light. 
Glisten (S.), to shine with a soft, fitful light. SparMe 
(A.-S.), to send off particles of light. 

The morning light upon the earth. A distant taper through 

the mist . A dew-drop in the sun. The ladies' eyes with 

pleasure. The child's eyes with delight. 

Harmony (Grk.), adaptation of parts to each other ; union 
of two or more sounds heard at the same instant. Melody 
(Gk.), a pleasing succession of single sounds. 

In a united family we see domestic . There may be perfect 

in a concert of voices and instruments. There may be in language 

or in the song of a bird. 

Plurality (L.) of votes (L.), more votes than those given 
for any other candidate. Majority (L.) of votes^ more 
than half the votes given for all the candidates. 

There being several competing candidates, no one obtained a . 

He was elected by a of votes, but did not represent a majority of 

the people. 

Insurrection (L.), a rising up in arms against the au- 
thority of the government. Hevolt (L.), a violent attempt 



104 The English Language, 

to throw off one form of government for another. Rebel- 
lion (L.)^ an extended insurrection and revolt. Hevolution 
(L.). a radical change ; revolt successfully accomplished. 

The American began in 1775, The government was weak- 
ened by frequent , incited by men ambitious to rule. These severe 

measures led to an , which was soon put down without bloodshed. 

This dissatisfaction soon grew into open . 

Abettor (S.)^ one who incites^ proposes^ encourages. 
Accessory (L.), one who aids, helps forward, conceals. Ac- 
complice (L.), one who takes part, carries into effect. 

The may escape the penalty of the law when he is morally more 

guilty than the or even the . 

Common (L.), often met with. General (L.), |)^i*tain- 
ing to the majority. Universal (L.), pertaining to all. 

To be able to read is so an attainment in this country that we 

may pronounce it , though by no means . 

Inconsistent (L.), not fit to be placed together. In- 
congruous (L.), not suited ; not in harmony. Incompat- 
ible (L.), incapable of existing together. 

Habitual levity of mind is with the profession of a clergyman ; 

it is with his ordination vows ; it is with his permanent use- 
fulness. 

Competition (L.), strife for the same object. Emula- 
tion (L.), desire to equal or excel others. Rivalry (L.), a 
personal, selfish contest, usually unfriendly. 

Honorable in business. seeks to merit success ; is 

contented with obtaining it. 

Firmness (L.) belongs to the will. Constancy (L.) 

belongs to the affections and principles. 

Without a man has no character ; without there is neither 

love nor virtue. 



Synonyms. 105 

Repentance (L.), sorrow lor past acts, with a change of 
conduct. Penitence (L.), sorrow for sin. Compunction 
(L.), a pricking of conscience. Re^norse (L.)^ a gnawing of 
conscience. Contrition (L.) (a bruising), a continuous 
state of grief and self-condemnation. 

All men are subject to of conscience. Heaven can judge if 

be true. Seeing his reformation, we know his to be true. The 

of the prodigal son ; David's for the murder of Uriah. 

Economy (Gk.) avoids waste and uses money to the best 
advantage. Frugality (L.) cuts off indulgences, and saves 
systematically and rigidly. Parsimony (L.) carries frugal- 
ity to an extreme, involving meanness. 

is a virtue, is a vice ; may lean to one or the other 

according to the motive from which it springs. 

Direction, — Learn to discriminate ; give original illustrations. 

The Connivance (L.) (winking) of public men at what is 
wrong is often the result of the basest Collusion (L.) (play- 
ing into each other^s hands). 

A few persons form a Cabal (H.) or Junto (L.), and 
intrigue secretly for power ; a Faction (L.) works more 
openly. 

Conceal (L.) facts or crimes ; Disguise (F.) sentiments ; 
Dissemble (L.) feelings ; Secrete (L.) goods. 

Consign (L.) goods to an agent ; Intrust (S.) money or 
goods to a servant. 

A Contemjytnous (L.) opinion expresses contem.pt; a 
Contemptible (L.) opinion deserves contempt. Egotism is 
Contemptible ; treachery is Despicable (L.) (stronger term). 
Fit it ill (L.) excuse, pretense, or weakness; Faltry (S.) 
trifle, evasion, or subterfuge. 

Clumsy (S.) (lumpish, heavy) person, shape, or expres- 



106 The English Language, 

sion ; Awkward (S.) (ungraceful) movements or manners ; 
Uncouth (A.-S.) (untrained) manners or language. 

Droll (S.) fellow; Comical {G^\,) adventure; Laugh- 
able (K.-'^,) incident; Ludicrous (L.) scene or situation ; 
Facetious (L.) person or reply. 

An Error (L.) may be corrected ; a Mistake (S.) may be 
rectified or overlooked ; a Blunder (S.) is blamable or laugh- 
able. 

I thought the attempt Foolish (L.) at firsts now I think 
it Absurd (L.) and even Preposterous (L.). 

Youthfid (A.-S.) employments or aspirations; Juvenile 
(L.) performances or tricks ; Fuerile (L.) (usually in a bad 
sense) objections. 

Cheerfulness (L.) or (Gk.) is a habit of the mind. 
Gayety (Gr.) is an occasional excitement of animal spirits. 
Mirth (C.) or Merriment (C.) is noisy gayety. 

Vexation (L.) springs from a sense of loss, disappoint- 
ment, etc. ; Mortification (L.), from wounded pride ; 
Chagrin (F.), from either, being usually not so lasting. 

Substantial Comfort (L.) at home; Consolation (L.) 
when we are in sorrow; Solace (L.) ourselves with books, 
society, etc. 

A man may be Silent (L.) from circumstances; he is 
Taciturn (L.) from disposition. 

Talkative (S.) child; Loquacious (L.) woman; Gar- 
rulous (L.) old man. 

A Circumstantial (L.) account embraces all the leading 
events ; a Farticular (L.) account goes further ; a Minute 
(L.) account goes further still. 

'^ The whole is greater than a part/' is an Axiojn (Gk.) 
(self-evident truth). ^^ Honesty is the best policy/' is a 
Maxim (L.) (guiding principle). '^ Light gains make 



Synonyms, 107 

heavy j)U7'ses/^ is a Proverb (L.) (common^, pithy saying). 
^' What hurts us instructs us/' is a Greek Adage (L.) 
(very old proverb). 

Cloister (L.)^ a place of seclusion ; Monastery (Gk.)^ a 
place of solitude^ usually for men called monhs ; Nttnnery 
(L.), — always for women called 7iuns ; Convent (L.)^ a com- 
munity of recluses ; Abbey (L.) or JPriory (L.)^ named 
from the head, an abbot or a prior. 

Joyous or solemn Feasts (L.) ; a splendid Banquet (G.) ; 
celebrate with a joyful Festival (L.) ; a drunken Carousal 

(G.). 

Biased (L.) by self-interest; Brepossessed {lu,) in her 
favor ; Prejudiced (L.) against me. 

Frightful (A.-S.) dream or shriek ; Tremendous (L.) 
shock or storm ; Terrible (L.) catastrophe, hurricane, or 
roar; Horrible (L.) deeds, sights, or stories; Fearful 
(A.-S.) contest or wave; the last, Dreadful (A.-S.) day; 
Atvful (xi.-S.) solitude; Shocking (G.) exhibition of 
wickedness ; Shocking news. 

Massacre (G.) refers to the promiscuous slaughter of 
many human beings ; Butchery (F.), to cold-blooded 
cruelty in slaughtering; Carnage (L.), to the heaped-up 
bodies. 

Ferocious (L.) in temper ; Fierce (L.) in actions ; Bar- 
barous (Gk.) in the manner of carrying outone^s purposes ; 
Savage (L.) in the spirit and feelings expressed in one^s 
w^ords or deeds. 

Atrocious (L.) crime; Flagrant (L.) act of injustice*. 
Heinous (G.) sin. 

Out of the Abundance (L.) (overflow) of the heart the 
mouth speaketh. Exuberance (L.) (bursting forth) ol 
animal spirits or of vegetation. 



108 The English Language, 

Extravagant (L.) in the use of money or in praise; 
Lavish {A, -^.) of one^s means or compliments; Profuse 
(L.) in bounties or thanks; Prodigal (L.) of one^s time, 
treasure^ or strength. 

Poverty (L.), deficiency in the means of living. Indi- 
gence (L.), absence of the necessaries of life. 

Uncertain (L.) weather; Precarious (L.) means of 
living. 

Stocks Fluctuate (L.) ; a man Fluctuates between con- 
flicting influences. A man Vacillates (L.) in his opinions 
and purposes, and Wavers (A.-S.) when the hour for action 
comes. 

One is always surrounded by T>anger (L.). One^s life is 
sometimes in J^^ri^ (L.). Hazard (P.) life and property in 
a bold venture ; a life in Jeopardy (L.) (extreme danger). 

In Imminent (L.) danger of one^s life ; Impending (L.) 
evils of war; Threatening (A.-S.) indications for the 
future. 

Concern (L.), not indifference; Solicitude (L.) and 
even Anociety (L.) regarding your future. 

Cautious (L.) at all times against evil ; Wary (A.-S.) of 
hostile designs ; Circumspect (L.) (looking around) in mat- 
ters of peculiar delicacy and difficulty. 

Habitual hostility marks the Adversary (L.) ; Oppo- 
nents (L.) are pitted against each other ; Antagonists (Gk.) 
struggle in the contest. 

A fortress is Defended (L.) by its guns and Protected 
(L.) by its walls. 

A storm or a fever Abates (L.) ; a tumult or a passion 
Subsides (L.). 

Alleviate (L.) (lighten) cares or distresses ; Mitigate (L.) 
(make mild) punishment, one's anguish, or the fierceness of 



Synonyms, 109 

• 

passion; Assuage (L.) (sweeten = soften) sorrow or angry 
feelings ; Allay (L.) (quiet) grief or wounded sensibility. 

A general or a local physical Debility (L.) ; Infirmity 
(L.) of the eyes^ etc. ; Infirmities of age ; Imbecility (L.) 
of body or mind. 

Corx)oreal (L.) substance or frame ; Corporal (L.) {not 
corporeal) punishment. 

JVoxioiis (Li.) weeds or food ; Xoisojne (L.) vapors or 
j)estilence. 

I labor for the Hecovery (L.) of my property^ but am 
indebted to another for its Hestoration (L.). 

Difference (L.) lies in the thing; Distinction (L.)^ in 
the act of the person. To make a Distinction without a 
Difference. 

In a Definition (L.) we fix the bounds or limits of a 
thing; in an Exjylanation (L.) we make plain or remove 
some misunderstanding. A precise Definition ; a general 
Ejcplanati on. 

Stire (L.) that the sun is in the sky to-day^ Certain (L.) 
that it will rise to-morrow ; Sure remedy or guide ; Certain 
of the correctness of the theory. 

Accurate (L.) account, statement, or calculation; Exact 
(L.) date, amount, or likeness ; Precise (L.) moment or 
meaning ; Precise in dress or language. 

A Captious (L.) j)erson catches at the slightest faults; 
one who is Caviling (L.) makes frivolou'S objections. 

Final (L.) adjustment or determination ; Ultimate (L.) 
success or object ; Conclusive (L.) argument or arrange- 
ment. 

A Specimen (L.) represents a class of things ; a Samj^le 
(L.) is a part of the thing, showing the quality of the whole. 

Ingenious (h.) mechanic; Skilful (S.) physician; Ex- 



110 The English Lcmgiiage, 

"pert (L.) bowman; Dexterous (L.) fencer; Adroit (L.) 
pick-pocket ; Clever (L.) speech or trick. 

Cunning or crafty Device (L.) ; useful Contrivance (L.). 

Utility (L.) of an invention ; Usefulness (L.) of the 
thing invented. 

Durable (L.) material or fabrics ; Lasting (A.-S.) re- 
membrance or effect ; I^ermanent (L.) situation or monu- 
ment. 

Mercantile (L.) house or business ; Commercial (L.) 
education^ people^ or town. 

AVe remove Obstructions (L.) and surmount Obstacles 

(L.). 

That which Charms (L.)^ Enchants (L.)^ or Enraptures 

(L.) (these words rise in their sense) affords pleasure for the 
time ; that which Fascinates (L.) or Captivates (L.) rivets 
the mind to the object. 

Affable (L.) (ready to speak or to be spoken to) even to 
the meanest of his subjects ; Courteous (L.) (suitable to a 
court) bearing or language ; Polite (L.) (polished) behavior, 
address, or manners ; Civil (L.) (belonging to a citizen, not 
rude) person or reply ; Condescending (L.) to his inferiors ; 
Complaisant (L.) (desiring to please) gentleman. He 
smiled with much Complaisance (L.) at all their pretty 
fancies. 

Elegance (L.) comes from training or art ; Grace (L.) 
may be a natural gift. 

The Decorum (L.) of a public assembly; the Dignity 
(L. ) of the men who compose it. 

The Pharisees were Scrupidous (L.) without being Con- 
scientious (L.). 

Desultory (L.) (leaping) talk or remarks ; Cursory (L.) 
(running) view or glance. 



Syno7iyms. Ill 

Approbation (L.) of equals or superiors ; Commenda- 
tion (L.) of superiors. 

Benevolent (L.) (well-wishing) disposition or act ; Benef- 
icent (L.) (well-doing) acts or intentions. 

Deference (L.) to authority^ to rank, or to the opinions 
of others ; Bespect (L.) for superiors or for virtues ; Esteem 
(L.) for virtues or for real worth ; Beverence (L.) for per- 
sons or things exalted, noble, or sacred ; Veneration (L.) 
for age and wisdom. 

It is wrong to Disjyarage (L.) another's motives or ef- 
forts. Depreciate (L.) values or merits. 

We Solicit (L.) aid or favor; Entreat (L.) with strong 
arguments ; Beseech (A.-S.) with strong feeling ; Imjylore 
(L.) aid in extreme distress ; humbly Supplicate (L.) 
mercy. (These words increase in strength in the order in 
which they are here given.) 

Allured (G.) to evil by promised good ; Enticed (F.) into 
it through our passions ; Seduced (L.), or drawn away, from 
the path of rectitude. 

Assent (L.) to a statement (act of the understanding); 
Consent (L.) to a proposal (act of the will). 

Addicted (L.) to vice ; Devoted (L.) to literature ; Dedi- 
cated (L.) to religious uses. 

We Admonish (L.) with a view to one's improvement; 
we Bej^rimand (L.) by way of punishment. 

JPunish (L.) to uphold law ; Chastise (L.) to reform the 
offender. 

Blansible (L.) arguments and Specious (L.) appearances 
often deceive. His Ostensible (L.) motive may, or may not, 
be his real motive. 

Equivocate (L.) by using language with two meanings; 
Prevaricate (L.) by ^^ dodging"' the truth. 



112 The English Language. 

Delusions (L.) of stock-jobbing ; Illitsions (L.) of youth. 
Sojyhistry (Gk.) is false reasoning of so subtle a kind as to 
render it difficult to expose its Fallacy (L.). 

Life is Transient (L.) (short at the best); its joys are 
Transitory (L.) (liable to pass away); its hours are Fleet- 
ing (A.-S.) (in the act of taking flight). 

We Should (A.-S.) (obligation of propriety) be neat in 
our person. We Ought (A.-S.) (obligation of duty) to speak 
truth. 

Tautology (Gk.) is a needless Hej^etition (L.) of the 
same meaning in different words. 

He was not satisfied with Hepeating his declaration, but 
went on to Reiterate (L.) it in various forms. 

Prompt Decision (L.)^ steadfast Determination (L.)^ 
and inflexible Resolution (L.). 

JPertinacity (L.) of o]3inion ; Obstinacy (L.) of will. 

What Evidence (L.) have you to offer in Proof (L.) of 
the truth of your statement ? 

This served only to Aggravate (L). the offense. It was 
said merely to Irritate (L.) (^not aggravate) him. 

We may Felicitate (L.) a successful rival (wish him joy), 
but can hardly Congratulate (L.) him (unite our joy with 
his). 

One may be Illiterate (L.) (not acquainted with letters), 
and yet not Ignorant (I.E.). 

The Idioms (Gk.) (peculiar forms) of a language; the 
Dialects (Gk.) of difterent localities. 

Incapable (L.) of learning or of a mean action ; Incom- 
2)etent (L.) to a certain task ; Ificompetent judge. 

Difficult (L.) problem (requiring more or less exertion) ; 
Arduous (L.) undertaking (requiring strenuous, persevering 
exertion). 



Synonyms. 113 

Believe a Doctrine (L.) ; obey a Frecept (L.). 

It may be right to Avenge (L.) injuries^, but never to 
indulge Revenge (L.). 

Attitude (L.) of wonder ; reclining Fostiire (L.). 

A thing is Ancient (L.) or Antique (L.) when not 
modern ; it is Antiquated or Obsolete (L.) when it is out 
of fashion or use. A^icient republics or temples ; built in 
the Antique style ; Antiquated customs ; Obsolete words. 

An Abridgment (L.) contains the more important parts 
of the larger work. A Conijyendium (L.) or an Ejntome 
(Gk.) is a condensed abridgment. An Abstract (L.) or a 
Summary (L.) is a brief statement of a thing in its main 
points. A Synoiysis (Gk.) is a bird^s-eye view of a subject 
or Avork in its several parts. 

An Example (L.) represents a class of objects; an In- 
stance (L.) may be a single and solitary case. 

Common (L.) friend {not " mutual friend ^')^ country^ or 
enemy (belonging alike to all) ; Mutual (L.) benefit^ ser- 
vices, or friendship (interchange in the same act) ; Becij}- 
rocal (L.) kindness or reproaches (acting in response to 
another act). 

Fields are Adjacent (L.) when they lie near to each other ; 
Adjoining (L.) farms meet or join at some j)oint. Contig- 
nous (L.) implies touching or joining closely. 

Amjyle (L.).room or resources; Sj^acious (L.) hall, 
house, or garden ; Cajyacious (L.) vessel or mind. 

The taste and feelings of a Fastidious (L.) j)erson are 
easily offended ; a Squeamish (S.) j)erson is ^ver-scrupulous 
and easily disgusted. 

Grandeur (L.) of the ocean; Sublimity (L.) of the 
heavens. 

Before leaving this chaj)ter we wish to say that, while the 
8 



114 Tlie English La7iguage, 

meaning of some words is widened and that of some is 
narrowed, 

XXXVI. Some Words Change Completely in Meaning. — 



To the first meaning, 



another, <^ , is gradually 



taken on, and the signification is represented by 

The first, or a, signification is gradually crowded out, — the 
younger Jacob dispossessing the elder Esau, — until at last 
only the d meaning is left. Tyrant meant at first one who 
by military force raised himself to an unconstitutional sove- 
reignty — a usurper ; then by degrees one who, besides hav- 
ing so raised himself to power, ruled despotically ; now, only 
a despot, whether coming to the throne legitimately or by a 
coup cVetat. 

Without a knowledge of the changes in sense which words 
have undergone, hundreds of such terms as these in Shake- 
speare, Bacon, Spenser, Milton, Bunyan, and other old 
authors, 

Orchard, thought, censure, still, reduce, dear, going, presently, 
sensual, shrewdly, futile, tracts, humorous, plausible, wizard, quick, 
whirlpool, quell, fact, manure, regard, ruining, and artfully, 
would be misunderstood or not understood at all. We add 
that 

XXXVII. Words are Dropping out of the Vocabulary. — 
The pages of all the old writers are sprinkled with such 
words as 

Brent, stond, teen, eftsoones, swinge, sikerly, 
which, in all , likelihood, will never again do duty. Their 
death is not an unheal thful symptom. '' A man loves the 
meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age ; ^' and 
for words, as for food, ^'the appetite changes. ^^ Only the 
thrifty tree outgrows its old bark, and then throws it ofl. 



CHAPTER XI. 

NEW WOEDS. — PREFIXES A]SrD SUFFIXES. 

XXXVIII. New Words are Constantly Coming into the 
Vocabulary. — They enter to supply the demand which in- 
crease of knowledge creates. The changes in the Yocabulary 
of a language, unlike those made in its grammar, are greatest 
during periods of high intellectual activity. As shown, this 
demand is partly met 

1. By the Widening of Meaning in Words. — Of this 
we need not give illustrations here. When we learn some- 
thing new of an object, we do not cast about for a new word. 
We simply add this new fact to the old facts, and stretch the 
old word to cover it. 

2. By 3Ietax)hor and Metonymy. — When we come 
upon a new thing resembling an old, or sustaining any other 
noteworthy relation to it, we may bring over the word de- 
noting the old, and apply it to the new. Out of some kind 
of likeness, real or fancied, between the things, we can, for 
instance, apply head, the name of the upper part of the 
body, to one end of a pin, to the top of a cabbage, to the 
source of a river ; we can extend moon to name the satellites 
of Jupiter and Saturn. Words so transferred on the basis of 
likeness between the things, we call nietapliors. From the 
material used in making it, we can call a sword, steel, and 
sails, canvas. Putting a part for a whole, we may speak 
of a ship as a heel or a mast or a sail, A word so used we 
call a metonymy. 



116 The English Language, 

And even when the metaphor or the metonymy yields only 
an additional name for a thing, how the expression gains in 
beauty and vividness by its use ! How apt is hnhble applied 
to the South Sea Scheme ! and who does not wish he had an- 
ticipated Lowell in calling humming-birds zigzagging blurs 
and winged emeralds ? 

3. JBy Distinguishing between Synonyms. — As said in 
the preceding chapter, this discrimination does not actually 
add new words to the vocabulary, but it releases from a joint 
work all the words of a group, and leaves each for a distinct 
service. 

4. Wetv Words Come from JProper Names. — Places 
and inventors, discoverers, and other persons, noted for 
some act or quality, leave their names in nouns and verbs 
and adjectives. 

Martinet, tantalize, boycott, canter, macadamize, petrel, maudlin, 
Jeremiad, Gerrymander, Puseyism, cereal, meander, money, dunce, 
jovial, gypsy, worsted, volt, 

and scores of other words illustrate this source of verbal 
growth. 

5. Obsolete Words are Mecalled. — Words return to ac- 
tive duty after a long Rip Van Winkle sleep. It would seem 
that hitherto men have not been able to carry on abreast all 
departments of investigation. In their advance they have 
moved not in straight lines, but in lines that zigzag. When 
engrossed with one class of questions, and off on what we 
may call one tack of their progress, they have been forced to 
neglect topics that once occupied them. Words needed and 
used before are not needed now, and drop into disuse. They 
become, in the language of the dictionary, first obsolescent, 
and then obsolete. But when the investigators have put 
about, and return, not over the old course, but in the old 



Neio Words, — Prefixes cmd Suffixes, 11? 

direction, and are absorbed in the re-discussion of old ques- 
tions, the disused words are wanted^ and are revived^ and 
re-enlisted into active service. 

6. Old Words are Compounded, — The compounds 
stand for a while with a hyphen between their parts^ as in 
camp-stool, door-post, ^ndi foot-note ; the hyphen drops out, 
as in steamsliip, railway, fortniglit, and forehead, when the 
relation between the parts has become intimate. 

It is worth noting that this capacity for composition 2^os- 
sessed by Anglo-Saxon words gradually diminished, though 
it was not wholly lost^ after they had entered English. A 
paralysis seems to have fallen upon them. Words grew in- 
disposed to combine with words or with prefixes, and prefixes 
to unite with words. The reason is not far to seek. The 
nevr tongue supplemented its available Anglo-Saxon words 
by a liberal employment of the Xorman-French. The old 
habit of answering calls for Avords by comjDounding them out 
of old Anglo-Saxon material — a habit which all self -relying 
languages have — was not continued in the new tongue, be- 
cause of its free use of Latin. To emplo}^ the ready-made 
words seemed only just, and was easier than to make new 
ones. Consequently the facility and the felicity of combina- 
tion which Anglo-Saxon words once possessed no longer dis- 
tinguish them. They still combine, but with an awkward- 
ness that comes from loss of habit. 

7. We JBorroiv from Modern Languages, — The Eng- 
lish go everywhere, and bring back many things ; and, along 
with the things, their foreign names. This accounts for the 
hundreds of commercial terms illustrated in Chapter II. 

8. We Use the Greek and the Latin, — We need not 
enlarge upon this way of adding to our vocabulary. We may, 
perhaps, say that those coming in from the Greek, often 



118 



Jlie English Language, 



technical at firsts in time work out of special into general 
use. 

9. We Make Many Words out of One, — Words in- 
crease by what we may call fissiparous generation ; by change 
of accent or of spellings one word multiplying into two or 
more ; as : — 

Species, specie, spice ; spirit, sprite ; other, either, or ; rote, route, 
rout, rut. 

10. JSfeiv Words hy the Use of Preftoces and Suffixes, — 

Words come into the vocabulary by joining to words, already 
in, our hosts of Saxon and Greek and Latin prefixes and 
suffixes. These prefixes and suffixes are words, or relics of 
words, that have run down into mere formative elements. 
They combine, as we shall see, each with many roots, and 
with roots already in combination, and vastly increase the 
number and the expressiveness of vocables. 



ANGLO-SAXON PREFIXES. 



a = at, in, on. 

after = behind. 

all (al) = wholly. 

be = to make, cause, by. 

for = against, not. 

fore = before. 

forth = forward. 

full = completely. 

gain = against. 

mis — wrong, wrongly. 

Direction. — Define and use the following derivatives. 

Model.— A-ground, on the ground ; i.e., stranded or stopped. The vessel 
ran aground, 

^-head, a-blaze, a-shore, after'Xioon, a^^-powerful, a^-mighty, 
&e-numb, 6^-side, &e-cause, /or-bid, /or-bear, fore-sight, for e- 
shadow, /orf/i.-coming, full'gvGwn, gain-ssij, miS'Yule, miS' 



never 

off 

out 

over 

to 

un 

under 

well (wel) 

with 



= not ever. 

— from. 
= beyond. 
= above. 

— at, this. 
= not. 

=: beneath. 

— rightly. 

= against, from. 



New Words, — Prefixes and Suffixes. 



119 



apply, never-more, oj^^-spring, otff-break, out'weigh, oveT'Tule, 
oveV'Shsidow, fo-night, un-ahle, tcU'skilled, Ufi'deceive, under' 
mine, under-rsite, well-disposed, ivel'tane, witJi-stsmd, with- 
hold. 

LATIN PREFIXES. 



ab (a, abs) 


= from. 


male {mal) 


= bad, evil. 


* ad {a J ac^ af^ 




ne, nee { = ne 




ag^ al, am^ 




+ que, neg) 


r= not. 


an, ap, ar, 




non {— 716 + 




as, at) 


= to. 


unum) 


=: not, not one. 


afnbi {amb) 


= around. 


ob {o, oe, of. 




ante (an) 


= before. 


op, OS) 


= against, upon. 


bene 


= well. 


pen 


= almost. 


bi {bin, bis) 


r= two, twice. 


\2}er {par. 




cireiim (circu) 


= around. 


pel, pil ) 


= through. 


contra (con' 




post 


= after. 


tro, coun" 




pre 


= before. 


ter) 


= against. 


preter 


= past, beyond. 


cum {CO, col. 




pro {pur) 


= for, forth. 


com , con. 




re {red) 


= again, back. 


cor, coun) 


= with, [fully. 


retro 


= backward. 


de 


=z down, from, 


se {sed) 


= away, from. 


dis{de,di,dif) 


= apart, not. 


semi 


= half. 


du {duo) 


= two. 


sine 


= without. 


eoc {a, e, ec, ef. 




sub {sue, suf. 




es) 


= out of, from. 


sug, sum. 




extra 


= beyond. 


sup, sur , 




in (en, ig, il. 




sus) 


== under. 


im, ir) 


= not. 


super (sur) 


= over, above. 


in {am, an. 




trans {tran. 




em, en^ ig. 




tra, tres) 


= beyond. 


il, im, ir) 


= in, on, upon. 


ultra 


~ beyond. 


inter 


= between. 


vice {vis) 


= in place of. 



*For the sake of euphony, the last letter of the prefix is often 
changed to the first letter of the root, or is dropped. 

t Per standing alone means &?/ ; as, per centum, by the hundred. 



120 



The English Language. 



Direction, — Define and use the following derivatives. 

Model. — J5Jc-centric, out of the center; hence, irregular, odd. Eccen- 
tric conduct. 

^6-normal (L. norma, rule), abs-tsiin (L. tenere, to hold), ad" 
minister, a-scend, a- vert, ac-custom, a/-fix, agr-gregate, a^-lure, 
ar^-nex, arife-date, aj^-portion, ar-rive, a8-sign, aj^-tain, henc' 
volent, fti-ped (L. pes, foot), 6i8-cuit, circaiw^-navigate, con-dole 
(L. dolere, to grieve), co-equal, cowi-press, cor-respond, contrU'dis- 
tinction, coifn^cr-balance, c^c-merit, diS'inter, f^is-seminate, (L. 
seminare, to sow), d«/-fident, dU'sl, c;:c-port (L. portare, to carry), 
e-ject, cc-centric, cxfra-vagant, i^n-port, ^/-legitimate, *r-reverent, 
infct'-mission, ^maic-volent, nc</-lect. 

JVon-essential, o&-ject, (L. jacere, to throw), 02>-pose, o/^-press, 
2>cn-insula, />cr-manent, jpc/'-vade, 2>^**^-^eridian, prc-fix, pre" 
mature, preter-nsitur^l, pro-noun, pro'ject, rc-ject, rc-lapse, ret- 
I'o-spect, sc-lect, semi'civcle, sine'Cuve, sicb-ject, sub'jugdite (L. 
jugum, a yoke), .st^'C-cumb (L. cumber e, to lie down), si«^-press, 
snper'nditnvdl, si^i'-pass, trafts-^ovt, tra-xerse, ultra-msiriney 
vice-ioj (Fr. roi, king). 



GREEK PREFIXES. 

afuphi = on both sides. 

an (a) = not. [through. 

ana = again, back, 

anti{ant) = against. 
apo (ap) = from. 
cata (cat) = down. 
dia = through. 

dys = bad, ill. 

en (em) . — in, on. 
epl = upon. 

eu = well. 



hemi 


= half. 


hyper 


= over. 


hypo {hyp) 


= under. 


niefa {met) 


= beyond. 


iUOUO 


= alone, one 


para 


= beside. 


peri 


= around. 


poly 


= many. 


pseudo 


= false. 


syn {syl^ sym^ sys) 


= with. 



Direction. — Define and use the following derivatives. 

Model.— Ana-lysis, a loosening up thoroughly, a separation of parts.. 
Analysis of sentences ; chemical analysis. 

^-theist (Gk. theos, God), an-archy, atiip/ii-theatre, aua-lysis 



Neio Words. — Prefixes and Suffixes, 121 

(Gk. luein, to loosen), anf i-pathy (Gk. pathos, feeling), a-pathy, sym' 
pathy, anf-arctic, apO'Stle (Gk. stellein, to send), ap'helion (Gk. 
helios, the sun), cafa-ract, dia'meter (Gk. metron, a measure), f?i/8- 
peptic, e/n-phasis, epi-demic (Gk. demos, the people), eti^-peptic, 
T^^ewii-sphere, hyper'CYiiiGSil, hypO'Ciite, ineta-phjsics, fnono- 
syllable, 2>ara-site, ^^^^i-meter, ^oZf/-syllable, pseudO'Hjm (name), 
sy U'thesis [thesis, a placing), an^i-thesis. 

NOUN SUFFIXES. 

One who does (agent), — an^ ant^ ent^ ar^, er, or, ard, ary, 
eei% ier, ist, ive, ster. 

One who is^ one to tvhom. — ate, ee, ite, ive. 
Place where. — ary, ery, ory. 

Direction, — Define the following derivatives. Give others. 

Models. — Lapid-«ri/, one who cuts precious stones. Legat-ee, one to whom 
property is left. Semin-ari/, a place where seed is sown, a school. Evangel-isf, 
one who brings good news. Deleg-ate, one who is sent b}'- others. Dormit-or?/, a 
place where people sleep. 

Ante-(\i\uY\-an (L. diluvium, flood), mendic-an^, adher-enf^ schol- 
ar, biograph-6r^ competit-or, wiz-ai'd^ ineendi-rir?/^ auction-ee?', 
cash-ier^ monopol-i.*?^^ operat-ive, pun-8^er^ s^ssoci-ate^ assign-ee, 
mortgag-ee, favor-i^e, CB.pt-ive^ api-ary (L. apis, a bee), \iemi-ery^ 
ohser vat- ory, 

State^ quality, act, — acy, age, al, ance, ancy, dom, ence, 
ency, hood, ing, ion, ism, ment, mony, ness, ry^, ship, th, 
tude, ty or ity, nre, y. 

Diniiniitives, — cle, cule, ie or y, kin, en, let, ling, ock, 
vile, ette. 

Direction, — Define the following derivatives. Give others. 

Models.— Schism, state of being divided. Euphon-?/, quality of sounding well. 
Frict-ion, the act of rubbing. Mani-fcm, a little man. 

Suprem-ac?/, pilgrim-a^/e^ recit-a/, forbear-ance, expect-anci/, 
martyr-f^o»*i, abhorr-erice, transpar-encyy^ likeli-^oo<^, rehears- 



■^^^ The Englisli Language. 

ing, rebelMo,^, barbar-ism, atone-men« (at-one-ment), matri- 
niony, hol.-ness, pleasant-r//, apprentiee-s/*/j,, dep-*;^, ^oM-tude, 
h^y-tty, r^pt-ure, bigam-y, parti-cZe, animal-c«/e, Tomm-«, Will' 
*e, lamb-fcjw, kitt-e», vU-xx-let, tound-ling, hill-ock, ^lob-ule 
los-ette, ciga,r-ette. ' 

ADJECTIVE SUFFIXES. 

Pertaining fo.-al, an, ar, ary, ic or ical, id, ile, ine 
017. 

Full of or /laving.— ate, full, ose, ous, some, y. 
That mag or can be.— able, ble, ible, ile. 
Saving power.— he. Like.— ish, like, ly. 
Without.— less. Being or ing.— ant, ent. Made of.— 
en. 

Direction.— Be&ne and use the following derivatives. 

Models.--Aqm\-ine, pertaining to an eagle, hoohed. Aquiline nose 
Yevi-ant, being green. Verdant fields. aquiline nose. 

Celesti-a^, suburb-an, oeul-ar (L. oeulus, the eye), planet-ar,/, 
ocean-tc, astronom-tca^, tow-id, puev-ile (L. puer, a child, a boy) 
s^coh^r-tne (L.saccharum, sugar), declamat-ory, intrie-a#e, grate- 
fiil, jocose, timor-ous, frolicsome, flower-^, habit-afefe, naviga- 
te, convert-t6«e, frag-i^e, correct-/i;e, kn^y-ish, m^tvon-ly, fruit- 
less, evr-ant, m^levol-ent (L. male, ill ; velle, to wish), braz-ew. 

VERB SUFFIXES. 
To make — ate, en, fy, ish, ise or ize. 

ADVERB SUFFIXES. 

Manner — ly, wise. Direction.— em, ward. 

Direction.-Define and use the following derivatives. 
^s-simil-a«e, straight-en, ampli-///, embell-tsTi, tranquil.i«e, critic- 
ise, candid-;y, hke-wise, sonth-ern, lee-ward. 



Neiv Words, — Prefixes and Suffixes. 123 



REVIEW. 

Ac-celer-ate (L. celerare, to hasten), a-melior-ate (L. melior, better), 
e-radic-ate (L. radix, a root), re-act-ion, inter-nation-al, con-sign-ment, 
op-press-ive-ly, ir-re-press-ible, pre-occupat-ion, de-gener-ate(L. ^eni^s, 
race, kind), com-petit-ive (L. petere, to seek). 

To the Teacher. — The exercises may very profitably be continued 
by selecting derivatives for the pupils to analyze. 



CHAPTER XII. 

WORD-ANALYSIS AND WORD-BUILDING. 

XXXIX. Latin Roots. — The Latin verb has various roots 
— those following the first formed from those which precede 
them. From each root^ words in English may be derived. 
A few Latin verbs contain^ each^ roots entirely distinct. 
This is paralleled in English by our ain^ was^ and heeri 
— all forms of our one substantive verb. A knowledge of 
these facts is all that is needed by one ignorant of Latin, in 
order to understand the work which follows. 

To the I^upiL — A change in the apphcation of the words of our 
language is constantly going on, and in this, as we have seen, the 
metaphor plays an important part. 

You can see how the word polite, which originally meant polished, 
came to have its present use. We should not now think of speaking 
of polite metal, but we may use polished literally, and say polished 
metal, or metaphorically, and say polished manners. 

Many interesting facts will come to light in following up the line 
which connects the present, or current, meaning of a word with the 
original, and those fond of exploration and discovery will find these 
exercises a diversion rather than a task. 

Direction. — The prefixes and sufiixes below are printed in Italic 
and the roots in black letters. Search these parts out from the Refer- 
ence Lists, pp. 162-168 combine them, give the literal meaning of each 
word, and trace its relation to the current meaning, as here illustrated. 
Give and explain as many other uses as possible. You are not to look 
up the letters inclosed within marks of parenthesis. 



Word- Analysis and Word- Building, 125 

Model.— Capital from caput, the head, and al, pertaining to, means literally 
pertaining to the head. The head being the chief or uppermost part of the body 
and the source of intellectual power, we say "capital city," " capital speech," ''cap- 
ital letter, " political capital," " capital in trade," etc. 

Cajnt + al city ; to pre 4- cijnt + ate (to throw head-first, to 
hasten) the conflict; jjre + cipit + ant (headlong) flight; steep, 
but not pre + cipit + ous. To make the main points clearer I 
^vi[l re -{- €a2ntulat{e) . The enemy offered to capittilat{e) 
(to draw up little heads, to surrender on terms) ; re + ani" 
iiia^(e) disheartened troops; spoke Avith aiiiwiaf + io?^ ; the 
true animus of this affair ; to whose continued he?ie -hflc 
-\-ence; the bene ■{- fie -\-ent fruits of Christianity; a wo)!- 
divectedi be7ie-{- fact -{-ion J €as{i\)+al remark; an unhappy 
cas{\i) -\-al-{-ty ; to obscurity and de + cad + ence ; ac + cid 
-f ent + al meeting ; in + cid -{-ent-{- al remark ; de + cidiu) + 
Otis trees (leaves falling in autumn) ; the remarkable co -h 
in -{- cid ■{- ence of the death of both Adams and Jefferson 
on the 4th of July, 1826. Party spirit engenders anini-h 
os{ose) + iti/.^ The assembly was un{unus, onQ)-{-anini-\- 
ous. Secure iin{nnus) + anim + ity. 

Direction, — Combine the parts, give the literal meaning, and find 
your own illustrations. 

De-}-capitat{e)y aniniat{e), in-{-aniniat{e), aniniat-{- 
ed, facf^ fac-\-ile, de^fect, de-\rfic(\)-\-ent, ef+fecf^ per 
-\-fect + ion, bene- -\-fact + or, bene -hfic + {i)al, bene + diet 
+ io?i, contra + diet + ion, in + diet + ment, cad + ence,\ 
eas{e), de + cad -hence, oc -\- cid -\- ent , oc + eas + ion, in-h 
cid + ent, CO + m + eid{e). 

* Literally, state of heing full of life or sj^irit ; but this word has 
been restricted to a special application, and now denotes violent hatred, 

f Cadence, like animosity, has been restricted in application, and 
now means a falling of the voice. 



136 The English Language. 

Direction. — With these words, and all grouped like these, do as 
required in the first Direction. 

Enforcing justice and equit + y ; an equity able distri- 
bution ; no ad + equ + ate champion ; the in 4- ad + equ + acy 
of the alleged causes; his ag-\-ile heels; the ag-{-il{ = ile) 
+ ity of a monkey ; e^i + act wise laws ; legislative en + 
act + 7ne7it + s ; good counter -{-act -hi ng ill; to alienat(e) 
from; alienate ion of the affections; in + alien + able 
rights; ^^ Ann -i- al -^ s of a Quiet Neighborhood^^; a life 
annu + ity ; co7i-\- clus + ive evidence ; ex + clus -f ive priv- 
ilege ; from the third to the ninth i^i + clns + ive ; pre + 
€lud{e) all possibility. The peony is Si per -\- enn{i) -\-al. 

Direction, — With thes^ words, and all grouped like these, do as 
required in the second Direction. 

In-had-\- equ + ate, in + iqu + ity, iii + iqu{\t) i- ous, ag + 
ent, in + act-\-iv{=^ive)-\-ity, tra?is + acty trans + act -{- ion, 
re + actf ex + act + ness, alien ^ anmt -}- al, bi + enn{\) + 
<^Z^ senii-\-annii-\-al, con -\- clud{e) , con + clus-}- ion, ex-}- 
clud{e), ex + clus -\- ion, in-i- co7i-\- clus + ive, in-\-clud{e), 
se-\- clus + ion, se-\-clud-\-ed, clos{e), clos-{-et. 

Cap 4- able engineer ; capt + iv -{-at-h ing loveliness; capt -f 
{\)ous disposition ; con-\-ceiv{<d) the idea ; finds no ac-\-cept 
-Vance; the common ac -{■ cept -\- {2X)ion of the term; form 
a con -]- cept -{- ion of the Deity; un -\- ex -\- cept + ion + able 
language ; opposed it from its very in + cept + ion ; chil- 
dren are more sus + cept -h ible ; anti{ = ante) + cipat{e) 
pleasures ; e + 7nancipat{e) a slave ; emancipate one from 
error ; in + cip(\) + ent stage of the disease ; the re + cip{\) 
-{■ent of many favors ; choice and felic{\i) + ous English. 

In + cap + able, capt -f or, capt -{-iv{=: ive) + ity, cap- 
tur{e), ex + cept^ de + ceiv{e), per + ceiv{e), re + ceiv{e), ac + 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building, 127 

ceptf ac-^-cept + aile, pre^-cept^ 'pre-\-cept^or^ re^cept-^ 
ion, parti ■\- dp -\-le, i^arfi + cij>a^(e), parti + dp -\- ant , 
felic + ityy in -\-felic + ity, parti + cle, parti + al, a -{-part. 

To ac-¥ced{Q) to a request ; inquire into his ante-^ced-^- 
ent + s ; to ced{e) territory ; con + ced{e) the point in ques- 
tion ; no jjre -h ced + e7it (prec'e dent) for such a ruling ; an uu 
'\-pre 4- ced + ent + 6^ (un prec'e dent ed) course ; will claim 
pre-{-ced + ence (pre ced'ence) ; the cess-\-io7i of territory ; a 
cessat + ion of hostilities; easy of ac + cess; ac + cess + ion 
of wealth ; de+ feet-}- ion from a cause or a party ; possible, 
but not feas -h ible ; disi-af -{- feet + ion among the soldiers ; 
pro -i-fic{i) + ent in mathematics. 

Pre + ced{G), re + ced{e), se + ced{e), inter -i-ced{e), ex-i- 
ceedy pro -[- ceedy suc + eeed^ abs + cess, ex-{-eesSy ex -h cess -h 
ive, se + cess + ion y in -^ cess -\- ant, fact -{-or, fact + ory, de 
■Vfect + ive, per -\-fect. 

Eightful claim -{-ant to the estate; crowds ac + claim 
him king ; re -\- claim a vicious child ; voted by ac^clam^at 
-hionj the Apostles^ Cre{e)d; to produce his cred + ent 
+ {i)al + s J to take advantage of his cred -\-uI-t ity ; to dis -h 
vredit the report ; a dis + credit + able performance ; an in -f- 
cred -f ihle story ; the ground of cred + ence ; to dictat{Q) a 
letter ; invested with the authority of a diet at + or ; a diet at 
+ or + {i)al tone ; faultless diet + ^o;^ ; ad + c^/cf -f ed to vice. 

Z>6 + claim f dis 4- claim^ ex + claim.^ pro + claim^ ir + re 
+ claim + aSfe, <^e + clamat + lo?^, ea: + clamat + lo/^, j^ro -f 
clamat-\-ion, cred-\-iile, credit, credit -{- able, contra-hdict^ 
pre + €?icf, jt?r6 + 6?ic^ + ion, val{e) (farewell) + diet 4- ory, in 
+ rZic^^ i7iter + ^tc^ + /o;i, diet + ^'o?^ + ari/. 

A curr 4- 6/^# report ; a specie ct^rr 4- ency ; a ci^rs 4- ory 
view of the subject ; a C07^ 4- ci^rr 4- ence of opinions ; in 4- 
ciir displeasure ; the in 4- ct^rs 4- ion 4- <§ of the Goths ; pre 4- 



128 The English Language, 

curs + or of a storm ; becoming justly in + dign + ant (angry 
at what is unworthy) ; to suffer in + dign + ity ; con + dign 
punishment; to ad+dtic{e) facts and arguments; con-\- 
duc{e) to the general good ; con + due -f ive to health ; e + 
duc{e) good from evil ; to se-h duc{e) the young from duty ; 
Becretlj ab + duct-hed the child; from these particulars we 
come^ by i7i + duct + io7i, to the general law ; iii i- duct -\- ive 
reasoning. 

Ex + curs + ion^ re + cur, oc + curr + e7icey dign{\) ^-fy^ 
dign + ity, dign{\i) -{- ary , e + ducat{e), i7i + duc{e), in-h 
duc{e) + ment, intro + duct + ion, ioitro + c^if c^ + ory, pro 
4- duc{e), pro + ^t^cf + i^^j, f/^f cf H- ^7e^ 6?^ + cZ^^c + ible, pro -f 
rZ?f c^ + io?i + ,§. 

To meet for friendly C07i -\-fer + e7ice ; a natural in +fer 4- 
^7^C6 from the preceding statement ; by suf-\-fer + ance rather 
than by permission ; to pro {t)+fer services; trans -{-fer-h 
able rights ; e + lat + ed by victory ; the cor + re + lat + ive 
terms, father and S07i ; flu + e7it speaker ; living in af-\-flu -\- 
ence ; in +fluoc of wealth ; the speaker^s flu + e7icy ; the C07i 
■\-flti + ence of two rivers ; the flu + id + ity of water or gas ; 
i7i-\-frang + ible atoms ; in+fring{e) upon his rights ; re-{- 
fract-\-ion of a ray of light ; re+fract-^ory child. 

Fer(t) + ^7^, /er(t) + il{=ile) + i^6, circum -\-fer + 6^^c^^, 6?^/ 
+/(er + 672.^6, pre -\-fer-\- ence, re-\-fer + e7ice, re+fer-\-ee, 
of-^fer^ de^rfcr^ de-\-fer-{-ence, di-hlat{e), di-hlat-tory^ 
super + lat + ive, trans + lat{e), re + to^ + io7i, fract + io^z. 

j?e -{-fund the money ; /if 8 4- ^*o>^ of metals ; language too 
dif-\-fuse ; dif-\-fus + ion of knowledge ; dif-Vfus + ^Ve per- 
fume ; ef-\-fus-\-ion of blood ; i7i-\-fus-{-io7i of good princi- 
ples ; pro+fus{e) in expenditures ; eyes suf-\-fus-{-ed with 
tears; ^ra7^5+/if8(e) a spirit of patriotism ; the insolent ^^ + 
gress + or ; ag + grress + iV^ measures ; adi + gress + ion from 



Word-Analysis and Word-Buildmg. 129 

my main purpose ; to shut off all e -Egress; retro + grad{e) 
motion ; not pro + gress^ but retro + gress -f ion ; sm ad-{- 
her -h e7it to a party ; a rambling, in + co + her + ent style. 

Co7i-{- fits + ion, grad{^t)-\'ion, de + grad{e), grad{u) 
-^al, de-\-grad{dii)+ion, ag-\- gress -\- ion, con-^gress^ di-{- 
gresSf in + gress^ pro + gress + ive, grad{u) + ate, trans + 
gress -\- ion, co + ?ier-\-e?ice, 'ad + hes + io?i, hesit + ancy, co 
-i-?ier{e), co + hes + ive, co -\- Ties -\- ive ^- ness. 

Con +forin to good customs ; tra?is +for7n + ed into a but- 
terfly ; bring ourselves into con -\- form + ity ; in + itiat{e) 
into the mysteries; circu-\-it-hotis route; ex-\-it and en- 
trance; sed + it + ion leading to open rebellion; the trans- 
+ it of goods ; trans + it + ion + al state ; this trans + if + ory 
life; trans + it -^ ive verb; liter ^al meaning; liter ■\-ary 
man; il + liter-{'ate man; easy, (?o/ + ?ogtf +(i)aZ style; to 
substitute air cum + Zociff + io7i for direct terms ; exposed 
to ob-{-loqii-\-y and censure. 

Form + fi^Z, form -\-al-{- ity, de -\-formj per -{-form + ance, 
re-{-form.at-\-ion, uni{unus, one)+/or^n, in-{-form-\-al, 
mis -{-in -{-form, re+form + er, i7i-{- format -h ion, trans + 
formats ion, in + trans + it + ive, ami + it^-ioii, preter-\- 
it{e), sed + it-\-{i)ous, loqii{sic)-\-ity, e + loqu + ence, e + lo- 
cut -\- ion, fnagn-hanim+ons, magn + anim + ity, magn 
-h ate, magn (i) +/«/, vfiagni}) + tude. 

Smaller factions merg + ed into one powerful party ; e + 
7nerg{e) from obscurity ; ready for any e + inerg + ericy ; rni- 
grat-\-ory birds ; the migrate ion of birds ; e -{- ^nigrat{e) 
to Australia; to check the i7n-[-migrat-\-ion of Chinese 
into California ; refer the matter to a com-\-7nit{t)-{-ee ; e-\- 
mit steam; inter -{-mit{t)-h ent springs; trans -\-m.it mes- 
sages ; throw a fuiss+ile ; a supposition hsLvdly ad + "^niss + 
ible ; the king^s e + miss + ary ; received the m^iss + ive ; to 
9 



130 The English Language. 

re + mit the punishment ; to remit by draft ; received the 
re + "initit) + ance ; sed + ent + ary employment ; sed(i) -f 
ment of impure water ; to super -\- sed{e) an officer. 

Manu + al, manu-\-fact-\-ory, e-\-inan-\'Cipat-\-ion, im 
'}'mers{e)y sui + merg^e), ntigrat{e), inigrat-\-ory, trans 
+ migrat + ion^ ad + niit(i) + ance, suh + mit^ miss + ^07^ + 
ary, manu + mit^ per + iniss + ion, sess + ion, pre-^-sid-i- 
ent, sub + sid{e), in-\-sid-]-(\)ous, pre+sid-\~ency. 

The com + pan -\- ent parts; an ap+posit{e) remark; 
nouns in the same case by ap -^ posit + ion ; de + com -\- posit 
+ ion ot rocks; hh ex -h posit ■{- ion of the text; con + de-h 
scend to become the friend of the lowly ; self-sacrifice and 
noble con + de-j- scens + ion ; tran + scend all limits ; to a + 
scrib{e) honor to the upright; to circum-^-scrib^o) royal 
power; to m.-{-scrih(Q) a line on stone; pre-\-scrib-\-ed 
course of study; to pro -j- scrib{e) offensive doctrines; to 
super + scrib{e) a letter ; to tran-\-scrib(e) (copy) a letter ; 
an in + script + ion on a monument. 

Op +pon + ent, post +pon(e), posit + io7i, posit + ive, com 
+posit(e) number^ com -^ posit + ion, de+posit^ de+ posit 
+ ory, po^{e), com+pos{e), ex-\-pos{e), im+pos{e), op-\- 
pos{e), pro-[-pos{e), sup -{-posit -{-ion, juxta+ posit + ion, 
de + posit + io7i, im -h posit + ion, pre + posit + ion, de + 
scend -\- ant ■\- s , de -\- scrib{e) , sui + scrib{e) , manu-h script, 
post + script, script, con + script, tran + script. 

Sect -{- io7z + al feelings and interests; inter ~\- sect -h ion ot 
the roads ; a potent argument ; princes and potent + ate 
-hs; ^^ potent -{-{i)al mode^^ ; de + spic -{- able company; to 
be wise and circum + spect ; the art of per -f spect + ive draw- 
ing ; pro + spect + ive benefit ; a retro + spect + ive view ; a 
successful a + spir + a7it ; con + spir + acy against the govern- 
ment ; noble ai-spirat + ion-{-s ; poetic m + spirat + ion ; 



Word-Analysis mid Word-Building. 131 

ex +pirat{=spirat) + ion of the time ; the in + spirat + ion 

and ex-\-pirat{=spirat)+ion of aii% i.e., breathings or 
re + spirat + io/?-. 

Bi + sect, dis + sect, in + secf , ^egr + ment, sect, sec + cmt, 
con + S2>ic(u) + ous, sus +pic{==spic){i) -\- ous, in + spect, re 
■^spect + able, spectat ■\- or , re-\-spect-\-ful, spec-\-(\)al, ex 
+2wct{—spect)+ant, a + spir{e), con + sjnr^e), ex-\-2nr(Q) 
(^z=zspir){e), in + spir{e), per + spir{e), tran-\-spir{(d), per 
+ spirat -\- ion, un-{-in-{-siAr-{-ed, tempore al, teinpor-\- 
ary, ex-\'tefnpor{e). 

Tend to ruin ; every fiber fens{e) ; tens -{-ion of the mus- 
cles ; a con + tent +{i) Otis disposition; dis -\- tend + ed nos- 
trils ; in + tent on mischief ; in + tens{e) application ; in + 
tens{i)-hfy the alarm ; the os{ = ob)-\-tens + iMe reason; 
tend-\-er a payment ; ten ■\- ac -{- ity of purpose ; ten Radons 
of his rights ; an un-\-ten 4- ahle position ; temperate^ but not 
abs-^tin-\-ent ; ap -V per -V tain -^-ing to this life; a remark 
Tioi per-Vtin-\-ent here; at-\-tribut{Q) it to other causes ; 
just re + tribut + ion j re + tribut + ive justice ; verb + al 
critic, verb + al (not oral) message. 

Tend{on)y tend + e^^c^^, at + fenf + ives ex + tens+ion, os 
( zrr o5) -f tentat + lo;^, ^e^i + aSZe, re + f enf + u'g, tribut{e), 
con ■\- tribut-]- ion, verb, pro -[-verb, ad -\- verb. 

Tract -{- ahle child ; an abs-h tract of the discourse ; de-h 
tract from his merits ; re + tract the false charge ; re + tract 
+ /o?^ of an opinion ; trouble arising from an in + ad + 1*^^'^ + 
e nt remsiYk ; to anini -{- ad ^- vert frequently upon the im- 
propriety; to a{ = ab)+vert his wrath; strong mutual 
a{ = ab)vers-hion ; some control vert -{-ed points; 2jer-\- 
vert the meaning; re -\- vert to the original owner; con + 
vers + ant with literature ; a man of versat + i7e talents ; 
another vers + ion of the text ; to choose his vocat + ion ; a 



132 The English Language, 

con + vocat -f ion of bishops and clergy ; to avoid truth by 
equ(\) -f vocat + ing ; m + vocat + ton of the Deity. 

At-}- tract -i-ivey con + tract + or, dis -{-tracts ex -{-tracts 
pro + tracts con -{- tract -{-io7i, sub -{-tracts at-\-tract-\-ionj 
sitb-\-tra7i-^e7id, di^-vcrt^ ad-\-vers{e), contro -\- vers -\- y , 
di + vers(\) ^f]h p^'^ + vers + ity, re + vers{^^ , con + versat 
+ ion, con + vers{^) + ly, ann{i) + ^•er8 + ary, a + vocat + 
^o?^, j^ro + vocat + io/?^, t'oc + riri, voc ^-al-V ist, 

Felic(ii) + ate ourselves on having escaped the danger ; 
ac + cess + iUe from all sides ; to make mutual con + cess + 
ion + s ; not a natural^ but a> factit -{• {i)oMS, excitement ; 6-1- 
dict of the emperor ; to inter -h diet all further intercourse ; 
con + cur in this judgment ; con -\- curr -{- ent testimony ; col 
-\- lat{e) it, word by word^ with the original ; sat down to a 
cold col-{-lat-\-io?i ; in -\- her -\- ent right to liberty. Solids 
and fluids differ in the degree of co -h Ties -f- ion. 

Be 4- cept + ion, de -h cept + ive, ex + cept + ion, inter -f- ce/^f^ 
a?^h'( z=iante) -f cipaf + f 6>?^^ iiiter -f cess + ^o;^^ inter -h cess -h 
or, pre + de + cess + or, cred + tcl + oiis, iti + cred + ul-\- ity, ac 
-heredity dictat + ion, se + duct + ive, aqiie{aqtia, water) -f 
ductf flu + id, super +flu + ous, fluctuat{e), in -hfring{e) -f- 
ment, 

A loqu 4- acious woman ; as -h si^(u) + ous labor ; to labor 
with as -h sid{u) -h lY?/; reconciled by the inter -h posit 4- io;i of 
a common friend ; to be in the a -f- scend -f- ant j to gain 
undisputed a + scend + 6?^cy ; fm -{-potent in body and mind ; 
the oinni{o7nnis, diW) •{- jyotcnt Creator; per -\- spic{vi) -]- ous 
in thought and language; per + spic{u.)-\-ity of his state- 
ments; Socrates and his con -\- tempor -{■ ary , Plato; break 
the con-\-tin{w)-\-ity of the thought; per -\- tin -{-acious in 
opinion ; tract -{-ion of a muscle or a rope. 

Multi{multus, many) -{-form, in + it + {i)al, circu-\'itf 



Word- Analysis and Word- Building, 133 

sub + miss + ion, trans + Tniss + ion, pre + sid{Q), pro + posit 
+ io7i, trans -\- posit -f iOTZ, ex -f tempor + t'^^e, 52^5 -^ f e/* + 1^^^6?^, 
trihut -\- ary, verb + ose, ve7'b + os{ = ose) + ity. 

To the Teacher and the Pupil, — Some forty of the roots in 
the Syllabus of the Regents of the University of New York have 
already received attention. The remainder, along with some others, 
are taken up alphabetically below, under the three heads of Latin 
Hoots f AnglO' Saxon Moots^ and Greek Moots. 

We do not give phrases or sentences illustrating these roots in com- 
bination with prefixes and suffixes, for such illustrations are no longer 
needed. 

If more than one prefix unites with the root, these prefixes stand be- 
fore the root unconnected with each other by the 4- sign. The suffix 
immediately following the root is to be united with every combination 
which this root makes with these prefixes. If other suffixes follow, and 
the same thing is to be done with these singly or in groups, these suffixes 
stand with or between them— the or in Roman type. The suffix, or 
the group taken as one, between the first or and the second are to 
enter into the same combinations as did the first suffix. And so of the 
suffix or group between the second or and the third, etc., and of those 
that follow the last or. For instance, under jungere, we have con, dis + 
jnnct + ion or ive or ive 4- ly. This means that the pupil is to do as 
directed with con +Junct + io?i, dis -j-Jiinct -{- ion, con-\-junct-\-ive, 
dis + janct + ive, con ^^ Janet + ive + ly, dis +junct + ive + ly ; or, 
dropping the signs, with conjunction, disjunction, conjunctive, dis- 
junctive, conjunctively, disjunctively. 

If the word containing the root is a verb, we give the verb in its pres- 
ent infinitive form ; and immediately after, its definition. The roots 
which follow in parenthesis are usually that of the infinitive, the past 
participle root in at or it, occasionally the future participle root in ur, 
and that of some verb or noun derived from the primitive. Not unfre- 
quently, some of these roots have been much changed in their long 
sojourn in the French tongue. 

It is easy to ascertain the meaning of the root in the infinitive given, 
and also that of the words in English derived from it ; not so easy to 
get at that of the roots which follow, and that of the English words 



134 The English Language, 

coming from them. The etymological meaning often has faded out ; 
and the words, if metaphorical, hardly suggest the likeness on which the 
metaphor is based. The pupil will sometimes need a hint from the 
teacher, sometimes he may profitably consult the dictionary. Where 
it could be done prudently, we have thrown in a suggestion in paren- 
thesis. But where the pupil can seize upon the root idea, and, com- 
bining it with those of the modifying prefixes and suffixes, can give 
the significance of the compound, he should be allowed to do it. As well 
do his physical exercise for him as relieve him of the intellectual labor 
which he can do alone. The main worth of this work consists in the 
exercise of the pupil's Judgment which it compels. 

Direction. — Study carefully again the Directions at the head of 
this chapter, and do as there required. The Reference Lists for Pre- 
fixes and Suffixes you will find on the pages which follow these, and 
end the book. 

XL. Latin Roots (continued). — Alius, high, lofty {alt). 

alt-\-ar ; alt(\) -\- tude ; ex -k- alt; ex -{-alt -{-at -{-ion. 

Ajjerire, to open (aper, apertur) • aper -}- {i)ent ; apert- 
ur{e). 

AjJtare, to fit, to make suitable {apt^ aptat^ ept), apt/ 
apt-\-ly or ness ; apt -\- (i) -\- tude ; ad -{-apt; ad -{- aptat -\- 
ion OY able ox ahil-\-ity ; ad-\-ept. 

ArSy artis, skill, method {art^ ert). art; art + ist or ful 
or less or less -{-ness or less-\-ly; art{\)-{-fic-{-(\)al or (e) ;, 
art + ist or ist + ic or ist + ic 4- al ; in + ert ; in -{- ert -{- ness, 

Audire, to hear (aud^ audit, ed, ey). and + ihle or (^ence 
or ill -{-y ; audit + or or ory or or- + ship ; dis + oS, ol) -f ed 
4- (^ent or (^ence (one may not comply with what was heard) ;. 
ob-{-ey ; dis-{-oh-{-ey. 

Auruniy go\di {atir). aur-{-(e)ate ; aur-{-ic; aur{i)-{- 
fer-{-otis. 

Base, low, humble {bas, bass). bas{e) ; a, de-i-bas{e) ; 
a, de-{-bas{e)ment ; bas{e)77ie7it ; bass. 

Batere,iatuere,iohQdX{bat). bat{e) ; a, de, re-{-bat{e) '^ 



W^ord- Analysis and Word- Building, 135 

a, re + bat{e) + ment ; com + hat + ant or ive or ive + ness ; 
bat-\-{t)le or {t)er. 

Brevis, short (brev^brief), brev + et or it y ; ai + brev{\) 
i- ate or at + io7i ; brev{i) -\- ary ; brief; brief -\-ly. 

Ccedere, to cut^ to kill {eid, eis). de-{-eid{e) ; con, ex, 
pre + cis{e) ; co?i, pre + €is{Q)ly or ^^55 ; de, in + 6?e, ex, pre + 
cis + ion ; de, in 4- de, con, in + ci8 + ive or iVe + ly or iVe -{- 
^655 ; in + cis + or. Add cicZ(e) to some form of liomo (man), 
rex, regis (king), mater (mother), pater (father), frater 
(brother), and tell what the compounds mean. 

Canere, to sing (can, cant, chant, cent, cantat). can-\- 
or-{-ous; cant (whining and hypocritical); cant(\)'\-cle ; 
des, re + cant ; en + chant -{- er or ment or r{ = re) -{-ess (there 
may be songs of sorcery) ; ac + cent ; ac + cent (u) + at (e) 
or at -{-ion; pre + cent ■\- or ; in, re + cantat + ion (the 
charm may be reversed, or sung back). 

Caro, carnis, flesh {cam, charn). carn + al or age ; 
€arn(\)+val ; i?i -\- cam + at -\- ion or (e) ; cam{i)-\-vor 
{esit) -}- ous ; c/iam(el)+ house. 

Celerare, to hasten {celer, celerat?), celer-\-ity ; ac-\- 
celerat-\-ion or (e). 

Centum, hundred {cent), cent + age or ur + y or ur-{- 
ion or enn -f- ary or enn + {\)al ; cent{\) ■\'ped{Q) or grad{e), 

Cer7iere, to distinguish, judge, separate {cem, ere, cret, 
cert), con, de, dis + cern; diS'\-cem-\-er or ible or ment; 
de + cre{e) ; se + ere + cy ; in 4- dis, dis + cre{e)t ; ex, se + 
cret + ion or ive or (e) ; dis + cret 4- ion or ^07^ 4- al or ^o;^ 4- aZ 4- 
Z^ or ive or ive + ly or (e) ; 56 4-cref 4-(e) or Zy or ive or ary 
or ness ; cert + am or ain 4- Zy ; cert{i) -\-fy or y^c 4- a# 4- i^'o/i. 

Cingere,' to gird, surround, enclose {cing, cinct). cing 
-{-le ; sur-\-cing-\-le ; cinct -\-ure; j^re, sue + cinct; suc + 
cinct -{-ly or ness. 



136 The English Language, 

C liner e, to bend^ slope^ lean {din, cliv, clen^ clinat). cle, 

in, re + clin{e); clin + ic or ic + al or ic-^s (patie,nts re- 
cline) ; ac, de, pro -f cliv + ity ; de + clen + sion ; de, in + 
clinat + ion, 

{Commod.) See moderari, 

{Coffimun.) See munus. 

Cor, cordis, the heart [cor, cord, cour). cor{e) ; cord{i) 
+ al or al + ity J ac, con, dis, re -^ cord; ac, con, dis-^cord 
+ ant or ance ; cottr + age ; dis, en + cour + age or age 4- ment, 

Coronare, to crown {cor on, cor 61, coronat, croivn). 
coroni-al or et or er (officer appointed by the king^ or 
croi07i) ; corol + 1 (diminutive) + ary or (a) ; coronat + io7i ; 
crown. 

Corpus, corporis, body {corpor, corpu, cors, corps, cor- 
pus), corpor + al or {e)al or ate or at + ion; corpu + lent 
or lence ; cors{e) ; cors + et or let ; corps{e) ; corpus -\-cle. 

Curare, to care, care for, heal {cur, ur, curat). cur{e) ; 

'pro, se, sine + cur{e) ; m + se, se + cur + ity or (e) ; ct^r + able ; 

in + ac, ac + ct^r + acy ; cur{i) + 02^5 or os + ^% or ous + Zy ; 

,9(rz:56)+t6r(e) ; as, in -{- s + ur -\- a7tce or (e) ; curat{e) ; in 

+ ac, aci-curat{e). 

Dare, to give {d, dat, dit, don, donat). ad-f-d ; ren{ = re) 
+ d + er; dat{e) ; dat + ive ; ad + dit -f io7i or ?*o/^ + aZ or ion + 
al + ly; e -\- dit + ion or or or or + (i)<^?; tra-^dit + ion or 
ion-\-al or ion-\-al + ly ; Lat. (?^r« + <^if + or) = Fr. {tra-\-it 
+ 6i^r) = Eng. (^rc^ -h if + or) ; co^^, ^:>6r + c^if 4- ion ; don + or 
or ee ; par{ =^per) + don -\- er or able or «S? + ^ ; donat + ^o^. 

Dens, dentis, tooth {dent), dent + ccl or 7**"^ or it + ion; 
in + c^ei^if / i?z + cZenf + wre or at 4- ^o?^ ; ^?an( = dent) + de-{- 
lion ; tri + ^enf . 

i)ie.§, day {di). di + al or e^f or ary or urn + al; meri 
{ — iuedi) +di-\-an ; quoti -\-di-\- an. 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building, 137 

Dominare, to rule {do^ninf dominat). doming ion or 
a7it or eer or ic + al ; pre ■\- doniin + ant or ance ; dominat -f 
^'oM or ive J pre-{-doniinat{e). 

Fades, a face or surface {fac^fic). de, ef, sicr-\-f(ic{e) ; 
fac + {i)al or et ; super + fie -f {i)al, 

Fari, to speak ( /^ /a^ /af ). ^?^ +/+ a7it or a?^cy or a7it -f ^76 

or f^f?^^ + ine ; af-\-fa + lie or J^7 + ?"% ; imdti, ne +/a(r) 

-f(i)oz^5; pre^fa-\-ce ; in-\-ef+fa-{-Ue ; fat{e) (spoken, 

hence unalterable) ; fat + al or al + ity or al + i^m or a/ + ist ; 

^ire+fat + ory, 

Fateriy to acknowledge (fess). con, pro +fess ; con -\-fess 
+ ion or ion + al or or; pro-j-fess-\-io7i, or ion-^cd or or or 
or + (\)al, 

Fidere, to trust {fid^fy^fi). fid ■\- el •\- ity {¥r,fecdty) ; co/i 
+/^€Z + ant or 6?^?^ or ence or 6?^^ -f (i)<2/ or (e) ; dif-\-fid + ent or 
67^ce ; ^?^ +fid ■\-el or e? + ity ; per +fid + y ; de+fy ; af, de 
+fi + ant or a7ice. 

Fi7iire, to end {fin^ finif). fin(e) (a sum paid e7ids a 
matter) ; fin{e), adj. (what is y^^W finished isfi7ie) ; fin-^ish 
or a? or a7ice or a/^6?+(i)r^/; 6'0?2., de, re -\- fin -\- {'^) or (e) + 
7ne7it ; in-\-de, de -\- fin -v ahle ; finit(<d) ; in + finit -\- ive or 
?^c?e or i^^^y or (e) ; de-\-finit-\-ive or ^o?^ or (e). 

Flectere, to bend, turn {fleets fleoc). de, in, re -\- fleet ; de, 
i7i, re -{- fleet -^ io7i ; re + fleet -\- ive or or ; fleoc-{-iUe or He or 
ibil + ity or or or tire j circiwi, re+fleoc; in + flex -j- iile oi 
ibil-\-ity. 

Fortis, strong {fort^ fore), fort; C07n -\- fort -{- aile or 
all At y or er or less ; fort(i)-^tude or fy or fiei-at-hio7i ; 
ef-hfort; fore-i-ible or {e)less or {e)ful or (e) ; re + e7i, e7i + 
fore{e) ; re-\-en, e?i+fore{e)-\-7nent. 

{Gener.) See gig7iere, 

Gerere, to bear (grer, gres^, gestiir^ gestietUat (diminu- 



138 The E7iglisli Language, 

tive)^ gistf jest^ gerat^ gestat), ielli (war), vice + ger-^- 
ent ; C07i + ger -}- (ies) ; con, sug -h gest + ion or ive ; di + gest 
(the elements of things digested are hoi^ne apart, separated) ; 
in + di, di + gest + ion or iUe or ^5^7 + ity ; gestitr{e) ; gestic- 
ulat + io^^ or (e) ; re + s^is^ + er ; jest ; ex + ag + gerat -f io7i 
or (e) ; gestat -\- ion, 

Gignere, for gigenere, to beget {cfen^ getter^ gend^ gent^ 
genitf generat). pro + gen^y ; gen-\-(\)al ; homo (like), 
hetero (unlike) 4-^^^+ (e)o^^.9; in-}-gen + {i)ous ; in + gen 
(u) +OUS or ity or ous-\-ly ; gener-\-al or ons or ic or ic-\-al 
or OS -\- ity (are not those of a class, ^^tz^, or kin more 
liberal ?) ; gend + er ; ^enf + zVe or le or ee? ; genit + ive 
or aZ; generat + ion or zVe or o/*; de, 7^e + generat + ion or 
i^'e or (e). 

Gra7ium, grain {gran^ grain , gam), gran + ary or 
■zJe or iil-\-ar or ill -{-ate or ^Ve or (i)^'or + o^^5; grain; gam 
■\-er or e^. 

Gratulari, to wish joy ; gratns, pleased ; gratis, free ; 
{gratf gratulat^ grac^ gre). grat{Q)+ful ; grat{\)-\' 
tude or fig OY fic^at-{-io7i ; grat{u) -{- ity ; C07i + gratiilat 
+ io72 or or y OT{e) ; grac{e) +ful ov less ; grae+{i)ous ; dis 
-\-a,a + gre{e) ; dis -ha,a-\- gre{e) + able or Tnent or able + 7iess, 

Gregare, to collect into a ^reo;, a flock, or host {greg^ 
gregat), e -\- greg + (i)ous or {i)ous-\-ly or (i)o^^s + 7Z65,§; 
greg -\- ari + ons ; ag, se + gregat-hion or (e) ; co7i + gregat 
+ ^'o^ or ion 4- <^<^? or io/i + ^? + ^'^^ or ^'o?^ + ^? + ism. 

Gross, fat, large {gross^ gro^ groc). gross ; gross -\-ly or 
ness ; en, in -{-gross (to write in large letters) ; gro-{-gra7n 
{grain) ; gro+g (Admiral Vernon wore grog ram breeches, 
and was called '^ Old Grog/"* He had his sailors dilute their 
rum with water. The mixture was called grog) ; groc -her 
or e7^y (the word from the manner of selling). 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building. 139 

HaMtare, from habere, to have^ to use frequently, to dwell 
{habf habit f hihitf hahitatf habilit). ab{ = hab) + le 
OYl-\-y ; eUy dis -\-ab (= hab) + le ; habit ; co, in + habit ; 
habit + able or able + ness ; in + habit -f- ant or able ; habit(\\) 
■\-al or ate or al-k-ly ; ad, ex, in, ])ro-\-hibit ; ad, ex, in, 
pro -\- Mbit -{- io7i ; ex + hibit + or or er or ion + er or ory ; 
pro + Mbit -i-ive or ory; de + bt{=hibit) ; de + bt + or ; 
habitat; habitat -^ ion ; co -\- habitat -{- ion ; de-i-bilit{=z 
habilit) -\- ate or at + ion or y ; abilit (=habilit)+y, 

Hospes, liospitis, one who entertains or a guest {hospit, 
hostf hot), hospit + al or al + ity or a5?e ; ^osf ; host + 655 ; 
host{l) + ^r ; /iof + el, 

Imitari, to copy ; imago, imaginis, a likeness {i^nit, 
imitate itnag^ imagin^ i^naginat). imit + able or abil + 
ity ; in + imit + able ; ifMtat + ion or or or iV^ or ive-j-ly ; 
imag-^{e) or {e)ry ; iinagin ■}- ary or ^Z>Ze or abl + y or ^r 
or (e) ; imaginat + ion or i^'^. 

(Integr,) See tangere. 

Jacere, to lie, to throw, to put [jac^ ject, jectuVfjaculat). 

ad-^jac-Vent or ency ; ab, de, e, in, inter, ob, pro, re, sub-\- 

ject; to these compounds add, where possible, ion, ive. He, 

ment, able, ion-\-al; ad -{-ject + ive or ive -{-ly ; con-\-jectur 

+ (e) or al ; e -\-Jaculat + ion or (e) or ory, 

Judicare=jus -\- dicare, to judge [judic, judicata Judg). 
judic{\) -\- al or ous or ary or ous-\-ly ; pre-\-Judic-\-{i)al 
or(e) ; Judicata ure; Judg-i- ment or (e) ; ad,pre-\-Judg{e). 

Jtmgere, to connect {jug, junct^ jugat, join^ joint) * 
con -{-jug -{-al or al-{- ity ; con, dis -{-junct-{- tire ; con, dis-h 
junct-{-ion or ive or ive-\-ly; in-hjimct + ion ; con, sub-{- 
jugat -{- io7i or (e) (what is a jugum, a yoke, a symbol of ?) ; 
ad, con, dis, en, re, sub -{-join ; joint ; joint -{-ly or ure. 

Jurare, to swear {jur^ jurat), ab, ad, con, per-{-jur{e); 



140 'The English Language, 

per -{-jiir -{■ y or or; jur + y or or (what is administered to 
a jury ?) ; con -\-Jur + or ; ab, ad, con -[-jurat + ion. 

Legare, to send {leg^ legat). leg-\-acy ; al + leg{e) ; al, 
de + legal + ion ; legat •\-ee or (e) ; de, re + legatee) . 

Leg ere, to read^ gather^ choose {leg, lig^ lect^ less, lectur). 
leg + ionoriMe or ible + ness or ibil-i-ity ; il-hleg + ible or 
ible + ness or ibil-\-ity ; i?i-{-e, e^leg-^ant or ance (what 
would ^^-chosen manners or style be ?) ; e, intel -\- leg + ible ; 
di, neg, intel ■\-lig^-ent or ence ; col, e,pre^-di, re-Vcol,pre, 
se + lect + ion j col, dia, e, iiitel, re + col, se + lect ; less + on ; 
lecturio) ; lectitr -\- er , 

Liber are, to set free ; liber, free ; libertas, freedom 
{liheVf liberty liber at), liber -}- al ov al -{- ize or al + isni or 
al + ly or cd-\-ity ; il-\- liber -\-al or al-[-ity ; libert-{-y or 
ine or in-^-ism ; liberate- ion or or or (e). 

Lingua, tongue {lingu, langu). lingu + ist or al or ^'^^ 
+ ic or t5?^ + ic + .9 ; langu + «^6. 

Lifiuni, linea, a line^ thready flax (Z-m). lin{e) ; lift -hen 
or zf ; lin{e) + <x^6 or aZ or «r or {si)me?it ; de + lin{e) + <2^e ; ^m 
+ seed or (n)^?^ (what does the bird eat ?). 

Locare, to place [loc, locat, lieu). loe-\-al or al-\-ize or 
cd-hity ; loc{o)-\-mot-[-ion or f^e; locat-\-ion or (e) ; (i^Z, 
6^oZ^ dis-{-loeat-\-io7i or (e) ; lieu -[-ten (to hold)+«?^^ or 
ancy, 

Ludere, to play^ laugh at, hint (^if^^ lus). al, col, de, e, 
inter, pre-\-lud{^) ; al, col, de, e, il-\-lus-{-io7i or ive (there 
is a playing into each other^s hands) ; lud-\-ic^{Y)oiis, 

Lux, lucis, light (lite, lumin, liistr, lustrat). liie-{-id or 
e7it or id-\-ity ; e -\-luc-\- id -\- ate ; trans -hluc-{-ent ; pel-h 
lice -{- id ; luc{i) +fer ; lumin + ous or ary ; il + luniin + «5^^ 
or at + ^07^ ; lustr + (e) or 02^6' or ous + /y ; il + ?i«sf r + (i)oi^5 ; 
il + lustrat-{-ion or ^^'6 or (e). 



Word- Analysis mid Word-Building, 141 

Major, greater {maj or ^ mayor), major; major -\- ity ; 
mayor -^ al-{-ty, 

Manere, to stay^ dwell {man^ mans, mn, main), man 

+ or or or-{-(i)al; per^-man-\-ent or ciice ; mans ■\- ion or 
ion-\-ry or (e) ; re-]-mn-\-ant ; re -\- main ; re + main + s. 

Mare, the sea {mar), ^inar + ine or in-\-er; mar{i)-{- 
time ; siih, trans, itltra + mar-\-ine. 

Mater, mother {mater, matr, mat, mater i). mater -{- 
{n)al or {n)ity ; matr + on or on+ize; 7natr{\) -{- mony or 
moni + al ; matr-k- ix ; mat + (ter) ; materi + al or al + ity 
or al -f ism or al + ist or al + i6'?^ + ic. 

Medicare, to heal {medic, friedlcat). fuedic -\- al or ine 
or in + al or {a^)?nent ; medicat + ed or io/z. 

Medius, middle (medi, iuediat), medi -\- (oore) or «rZ or 
ocr + ityj im, i7iter + medi + ate j mediat + ion or or or 
(e) + /^. 

Mens, mentis, the mind (ment). ment-\-al or al+ly ; de 
+ ment + erZ. 

Merces, reward (mere, merch, mark), merc + er or (en) 
ar?/ ; com + ^iero(e) ; com + merc{i) + aZ or (2? + /t/ ; Merc + 
^/^ H- y y mere + r^^i?^ + i7e / merch -\- ant or 6;7^^? + ize ; mark 
+ (et) or (et) + alle, 

Metiri, to measure {met, mens, meas, mensurat), 
met{e) ; di -\- mens + io?i ; im + mens -f iVy j im -f mens{e) + 
ly or ?ze55 ; meas + ure or ^^r -I- aUe or ?o^ H- rtZ>/ -\-y or ure + Ze6'5 
or icre + ment; mensurat + io7i j com ■{- mensurat -\- {e) or 
(e)/^ or {Q)ness, 

Mirari, to wonder {mir, mira, mirat). ad -{- mir + able 
or er or aM-{-y ; mir + age; mira + cle { — culum) or c^2^Z + 
02^5 or cul-\-oits-\-ly ; ad -h mirat -i- ton. 

Moderari, to govern, direct, measure {mod, mod- 
erat). fnod{e) ; niod + el or ish or al or (i)/?/ or (i)^ + 



142 The English Language, 

able or {i)flc-{-at-\-ion ; ac-\-co7n-\-mod^ate or ai-^ionj 
com + mod + {i)ous or ity or (e) ; moderat + ion or (e). 

Monere, to advise {iuon^ ^nonit). ad, pre-\-mon-\-ish ; 
stem {=sttI))-{- man + er or + s ; nion{u) -h ment -\- al ; ad, pre 
+ inonit + ion or ive or ory ; inonit + or or or^ or ^o/^. 

Mors, mortis, death [inort). mort-\-al or al-^-ity or 
«Z + ly ; 'mort{i) + /i/ or flc -\- at -{- io7i ; mort + gage 
(:= pledge) or main ; im + mart + al or aZ + ize or ai + ^Y^. 

Mover e, to move {mov^ mot^ mo), 7)iov{e)+ment j re-\- 
m.ov{e) ; fnov + ^r or 6^Z>fe or ably ; m^ot + ion or iVe or or ; 
e, pro -f tjiof + ion or f i;e ; re, pro 4- 7not{e) ; tJio + me^^. 

Multus, many {miilti). m.ulti+ply or plic + and or 
^2^6?6 ov pie or foTTn or pile •\- at -\- ion or pli-\-er or plic-h 
ity, 

Munus, muneris, a duty^, an office^ a present (mun^ mon^ 
muniCf tnunicat). com-\-mun-\-ion or ^^^ or iYy or (e) ; 
(^om + ^^ori / com + ^io^ + er or (^Z + ty or Z^ or ^^,§5 or wealth 
or place; com + mimic -{-able or ant; com-hmunicat-{-ion 
or iV^ or ory or ^Ve + ness, 

JSfasci, to be born {fiat^ natur). nat-\-al or ive or ion 
or iv-\- ity; in, cog-\-nat{e) ; natter -{-al or al + ist or «Z + 
i^m or Yd + Zy or al + ?z^5<§ / '^^^^ preter, super + natur + a?. 

Navis, ship (nav^ nan, nans). nav{e) ; nav-\-al or ^; 
circu7n + nav + ig{—ag)-\- able or ate or at'\-ion or at-{-or; 
nan{i)+ic-\-al ; naus{e)+ous or ^^fc or (a). 

Nectere, to bind^ tie (nect, nex^ neocat). con-\-nect ; 
con + nect + ion or i?;c or ^fZ or ed+ly or or; dis-\-con-\- 
nect; dis + con -h nect -i- ion or 6^; an-i-neoo; con-{-nex 
+ io^ ; a7^ + neocat + ^o^. ' 

Noscere, gnoscere, to know (ti^o^^ no^ notat, gno^ gnor, 
gnomin^ nofuin^ noun^ nam^ gnit, gnis), not{e) 3 con, de 
+ no^(e) ; not(^^) -{rless or book or worthy ; not-^er or ed^ or 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building, 143 

alle or ary or ice or (})fy or ion or ori-\-ons ; no-^'ble or Z>^7 + 
^^^ ; notat + ^07^ ; '?'*( = in) + grno + 5fe or il + y ; %-{■ guar -f 
a;z7^ or ance or (e) ; i -[- gnomin -\- y or ious ; nomin-hate 
or a/; de + nofnin + at + ion or o?%* noun; j^ro + noiin; 
nani{e) i-less or Z^ or sake or less-\-ly ; re-\-co-\-gnit-\-ion ; 
re + co-\- gnis + ance + <^Z>/e or (e) . 

NiimerarCy to number (numer^ numerate mim). nii- 
mer-j-al or ot^5 or able or ic + al; snper + nunier + ary ; 
niiinerat + io?i or (e) ; e -r mimerat -{- ion or (e) ; iit6w^(b) + 
6r or er + Ze<§5. 

JSfnnciare, to announce {nunciatf nounc), an, e, de,prOy 
re + niinciat-\-ion or (e) ; an, de, e,pro, re-{-noiinc{e) ; an, 
e, re + noiinc(e)ment, 

Oculits, eye (ociil), ociU + ar or ^6^2^ or ar + ly ; Mn-\- 
ocitl 4- «^r ; ^>^ + ocul + a?^6 or r<^Z + ion. 

Pandere, to spread^ step {pand^ pans ^ pass , pac). ex + 
pand; ex-{-2:>ans-\-ive or ion or ^5fe or ive + ness or (e) ; 
2?ctss + able or rif^e or over or port or book or key ; com, en + 
com, sur, tres-\-2^(iss ; pac(e). 

Par, equal {par^ peer^ i^air). par-\-ity ; dis-\-par-\- 
ity or age or age^-ment ; peer ; peer ■\- age or less ; com-\- 
peer ; pair. 

Par are, to get ready [par, par at ^ pair), co'tn, pre-{- 
par(e) ; com, in -\- com, iii + se, re, se+ par + able or ail + y ; 
se + ver{=:par)-{-ance or al or al + ly ; pre, re, se^-parat 
■\-ion ; ap -{- parat + us (Li.) ; re -i- pair. 

Parley, a conference (parl^ par), parl + aiice or or or 
{ia)-hme7it or {12^) •\- inent -\- ary ; par-{-{p\e) or (able). 

Pascere, to feed {past), past ^- or or i^r^ or ur-\-age or 
or -{-ate or or -{-al ; re -\- past. 

Pater, patris, father ; patria, father-land, country ; 
{pater f patr). pater +{n)al or {n)ity ; patri-on or on-)r 



144 The English Language, 

age or 07i + ize or 07i-^ess; patr(\) -\- mony or ot or ot-\-ic 
or ot + is7n or ot-\-ic-\-al-\-ly ; ex-{-patr{i) + at + ion or (e). 

Patiri, to suffer (_paf^ pass), in + com, corn -\- pat -{-ible 
or iZ^^7 + ity ; pat{i) + e?it or 67? c^^ or e/^^ + ly ; im -\-pat(\) + eiit 
or 6/z6'6 or ent-Vly ; pass + io7i or ion -{-ate or iz^e; co7n-\- 
pass-\-io?i or ion + ate or ion-\-ate-\-ly, 

Pellere, to drive^ push^ strike (i>e?j, puis, pulsat, pelt). 
com, dis, ex, im, pro, re+iyel; ]jro-\-pel{\)-\-er ; _2>t^^8(e) ; 
^om^ ^2:^ im, pro, re -\- puis ■\- ion or ii'e; ex, im, re + puls{e) ; 
piilsat + ion or ^>e or ory or (e) ; pe?^. 

Pender e, to hang^ weighs incline^ pay {pend, pens, 
peusat), ap, corn, de, ex, p)er, s{dis), sns+pend; iii + de, 
de -\- pend -k- ent or ence ; com +pend{i) -h ous or ous + ly ; ex 
-{- pens -\- ive or ive + ly or ive + ness; pens + ion or zV^ or 
io/z + er ; in + ^/^^ r?/^ -{-pens + «5fe or ^^Z^fe + ness ; p)'^o -\-pens 
-{-ity; com, dis-{-pensat-{-io7i ; dis -{- pens -{-ary or er. 

Pes, 2)edis, a foot {ped, pedit). pe^ + «? or {l)er ; hi, 
quadr{u) -\-ped ; ex -\-ped(^ + ent or ency ; im +jp6<Z(i) + 
merit; im{-2^ed{e) ; ex ■{- i^edit ■{- ion or (\)ous or (i) ous -{-ly. 

Petere, to ask {pet, petit, ^^eaf). com-{-pet{e) ; co7n-{- 
pet-\-ent or ^^c^y or 6?26'e ; im-{-pet-\-iis (L.) ; im-{-pet-\- 
{vi)ous or (u)o5 + iVy ; com^ re ^ petit + io^z ; (?om -{-petit + 2V6 
or or or ion or io7i-{-er ; re-{-peat-\-ed or ed-{-ly or er. 

Pingere, to ipsimt (pict, pictitr, paint, pig). de-{-2>ict; 
pict 4- or + (i)<rif/ ; pictiir + e^^'i^e or esg^/e + 7zes.s or e^g't^e + /^ ; 
paint ; paint -f er or irig ; pig + 7i%e7it, 

Placer e, to please (^Zac, placat, pleas, plais). plae + {<^ 
or able or ail-{-y or able-\-7iess ; com-{-plac-{-e7ice or e^zt'j^ 
or 6?z# or e7it-\-ly ; placate ion or (e) oy ed ; pleas -{-lire 
or (e) ; com •\- plais ■{■ arit or a^zce. 

Plenus, full ; plere, to fill {plet, plen, pie, ply, plent, 
pli). corn, de, re-{-plet-{-io7i or (e) ; plen{i) + tude; re-{- 



Word'Analyfiis and Word-Building, 145 

plen + ish; coin, sup+ple + me?it or ment-i-ary ; im+ple 
+ ment j com, sup -{-ply ; plent(\) ^-ful orful + ly ; plent + y 
or {q)ous ; com-\-pli-\-a7it or ance or ment, 

Plicare, to fold^ twine, y^^^^^ {^plic^ pli^ ply, pie, ploy ^ 
pleoc, plicit, plicat). com, du, multi -k-plic + ity ; ac -(- com 
-hplic{e) ; sim{ — semel, once) +plic + ity j ^^Zi + able or 
ant; sim+pli+fy or fie + at -\- ion; ap, tin, 7nis + ap, 
multif 7e-\-ply ; sim, sup -\- pie; de^ploy ; em -\- ploy •{■ er 
or ment; co7n+plex + ion or ity; com, du, multi, per -i- 
plex; ex, im+plicit; ex, im+plicit + ly or ness ; ap, du, 
im, mis-\-ap, 7nulti, re, sup i- plicat + ion ; du, im, sup-\- 
plicat{e). 

Pluma, a feather {j)lii7n), plum + age or (e) ; i>Zif^^(i) 
+ ger + ous ; plum{e) + less, 

Flumbmn, lead {plumb, plum?), plumb -{-ago or {Q)a7i 
or {q)ous or er or ery or ic or {\)fer-\-ous or ^;^^ or line or 
rule; plum{m) + et. 

Porta, gate {port, poreh), port + ^/ or er or r( = ^r) ^^5 or 
ic-\-o (It.) ; port{<d) ; poreli. 

Portare, to carry {port,portat). port ; com, de, dis, ex, 
im, re, s{ = dis), sup, pur, trans + port ; ex, im, re, sup + 
port + er or able ; port + able or er or Zy or li -h ^66'.^ ; 2??^ 
-\- jyort -{- ant or ance ; de-^poH-\-meiit ; de, ex, im, trans + 
portat-\-ion, 

Potare, to drink {pot, pot at), pot -\- ion or able or ri^J/e 
+ ness; j^otut -\- ory or zo;^; com i- potato- ion or or. 

Prehendere, to seize, to take in {jyrehend, ly^^ehens, lyris, 
priz). ap, coin ■\- prehend ; ap, com+pre/i^ii8 + n'e or io?^ 
or ible or iz;e 4- ^655 ; prehens + I'Ze ; jyris + o?i or o/^ + er ; 
ap, com, enter{:= inter), siir+pris{e) ; re, sur -^ lyris -^ al ; 
2}riz{e). 

Primus, first {prim, ^>rm, pri), prim{e) ; prim + er 
10 



146 The English Language. 

or ary or it + ive or ev{cBVum, age)4-<^?; prin + cip -\- al or 
al + ly or aZ -f ^Vy ; prin -\- dp + le ; pri + or or or + i^^/ or ory, 

Pungere, to stingy to prick {pung^ punctur^ pimctf 
point). pung-{-e?it or ency j ex+pung{e) ; ptinctiir{e) ; 
punct{i\) + al or al-j-ity or at -h ion or (e) ; com+pitnct + 
ion ; point ; point ■¥ ed or ed-[-ly or fo5,§. 

Quadra, a square ; quatuor, four {quadVf quadrat^ 
quarts quar). quadr + a^?f or oo/^ ; 5( = 6:^) -f quadr + o;^ y 
gifaf?r(u) +_^^e^ or ^Ze; quadrat -\-ic or ure or ic + s; 
quart ; quart + ^^ or er or o (It. ) or ^r + Z^/ or ez^ or ette ; 
s{=ex) + quar{e). 

Queer ere, to seek^ gain {quer, quir^ quest, quisit)^ 
quer + y J co?i + quer ; con + quer + or or 6^ J/<9 ; ac, in, re -f 
quirio) ; m + gm^ + 2/ ->' ^^ + quir{e) + me^^ ; quest ; co?i, 
in, re + quest ; quest-]- ion or ^07^ -h (2Z>fe or ion 4- fe5<-^ or ^^Z^? + y 
or ^5fo + ness or or or or + sM2J ; ex, per, re -\- quisit{e) ; ac, 
dis, in, re + quisit + ion ; ac, in + fjuisit + ive or ive + ^e^^. 

Quantus (quant), quant -\- ity ; quant + it + at + ive, 

Quies, quietis, rest^ repose, release, discharge [quiet ^ qui^ 
quit), quiet; quiet -{-ude or ly or ness or ^'^m or ist ; dis 
+ quiet + ude ; qui + esc + ent ; ac + qui-\-esc-{-ent or ence 
or (e) ; re -{• qui + em (L.) ; quit; quit{e) ; re-{-quit(e) ; ac + 
gt^i^ / quit(t) + r/?^C6 ; gmf + claitn. 

Radiare, to gleaffi,, emit beams (radi, "v^ay, radiat). 
radi + ant or a?^c6 or a^cy or us (L.) ; ra?// ray + less ; 
radiat + ion or (e) ; ir -h radiat + ion or «7^^f or (e). 

Rapere, to seize {rap^ rav^ rapt), rap -^ id or m^ or 
id-\-ly or id -\- ity or 26?4-<s or acious or ac-^ ity; rav-\-age 
or e^^ or m^ or i^/^; rapt ; rapt -{- ure or ur-\-ous or ?/r + 
oz/5 + ?y . 

Regere, to rule, to guide ; rectus, straight, right {reg^ 
rig^ rectf regul^ regulate rulj ress). reg-\-al or ent or 



Word- Analysis and Word-Building. 147 

ency or ion or al-\-ity ; reg{\)-\-me7i or ment or ment-k-al 
or ci^(e) ; in + cor + rig ^ ihle or ihil + ity or iile-\-ness; 
cor, di, e + rect; cor, di, e + rect + io?i or or; in-hsur, re 
+ sur -h recti- io?i ; rect{\) -\- tude or /^/ regiili-ar or ar + 
ity ; ir + regul-har or ar + ity ; regulate- io7i or tV(3 or or 
or (e) ; ^i^(e) : rul + er; sur-\-g{=reg){e) ; ini-suri- 
g + 6^^ or e^cy (the directing, or taking one^s wa}% may be 
from under) ; sou i- r{=reg) + ce ; re-hsou + r + ce ; d{ = di) 
-hress; ad-hd + ress ; re + di-ress* 

Reri, to believe, to think ; ratus, fixed, settled [rat^ reas). 
rat{e) ; over, under -{-rat{Q) ; rat(\)-\-fy or fl-\-er or jfic + 
at-\-ion ; rati- able or abli-y or ailei-ness or ^o^^ orioni-al 
or ion + al + ist or ioni-ali-ize or ioni-ali-ism ; reasi-on 
or on i- able or oni-ing or oni-er or oni-abli-y or on i- able 
+ 7^655. 

Ridere, to laugh, to mock (ri^Z^ ^'is). de-{-rid{e) ; ri^(i) 
i-cule {=culum) or cul + ous; ris + ible or ibil + ity ; de-{- 
ris + to?z or i^;^ or or^/ or ^V^ 4- Zy. 

Rivus, small stream ; r^pr/, bank, shore (rtt;, rivat), ar^ 
de-^riv{Q) ] riv + er or «Z or ali-ry (why, originally, be- 
tween those living on opposite banks of a river?) ; riv + ul 
■Vet ; dei-rivi-able or abl + y ; dei-rivat + ion or iVe or 

Rogare, to ask, question, solicit (rogr, rogat). ar + rog-h 
ant or ance ; ab, ar, de, inter, sur-\-rogat{e) ; cZ^, inters 
rogat i- ion or o?'y or ive ; pre + rogat i-ive ; super i-e, ab 
•\-rogati-ion, 

Rumpere, to break, destroy {rupt^ ruptiir), dis, e, inter, 
ir + riipt + io7i or iVe; abi-rupt; ab + rupt + ly or 72^55 ; 
cor + rupt; cor i- nipt -\-ly or 7Z65S or er or iSZe or ibli-y or 
^o?^ or ible-\-ness or ibili-ity ; riipttir{e) ; bank (= bench) 
+ rupt; hsink -hrupti-cy (see dictionary). 



148 The English Language. 

Sacrare, to set apart, to hallow ; holy {sacr^ seer at), sacr 
-\-ed or ed^-ly or ed-{-ness; sacr(^) -\- ment or ment + al; 
sacr{i)-^flc + {Q) OY {\)al ; sacriyf-k-leg + i^e) oy {\)ous ; ex + 
ecr{:= sacr) -\- able ; con, de + secrat + ion or (e) ; ex-\-ecrat 
[ = seer at) + io?i, 

Sal, salis, salt {sal). sal{t) ; sal -i- ad or ine or ary (orig- 
inally, money given to soldiers for salt) ; sal{t) 4- ^r or less 
or ness or mine or pan or petre or cellar. 

Salire, to leap {sal^ sail^ sanity sult^ salt, saltat). sal-\- 
{\)ent ; sal + (1) y or (mon) ; as + sail ; as + sail + ant or ahle ; 
as + sault y ex + tilt{ = stilt) + ant ; de + suit -f ory or ori + 
ly ; re + suit ; re + 8if ?f + ant ; ex + ultat{ = sultat) + io^^ ; 
saltat -{-ory or ^o/^. 

Sancire, to render sacred, to ordain {sanet^ saint), sanet 
+ ^ 0^^. or ity ; sanet{u.) + ary ; sanet{i) +/?/ or fie + at-{- ion 
or mony or mo^^' + o^^5 ; saint ; saint + ^r/ or ly. 

Satiare, to fill, to content (sa^^ satiate satiet). sat{e) ; 
sat{i^)-}-fy or faet-hion oy faet-\-ory or faet-\-ori-\-ly ; 
satiat{e) ; satiet -{-y. 

Scire, to know (sci). sei-{-ence; con, pre-\-sei-\-ence ; 
sei + ent{i)-\-fie or fie + al; co7t + sei + ous or ous + ness; 
con-\-sei-{-ent'\-{\)ous or {\)ous-\-ly or (i)oi^s + ^e55; omni 
(all) + sci + 6^^ or 6n(?e; '^m 4- (?o?z + «c^ + o^^6' or o^^^ + ness. 

Se7iex, senior, old, older [sen^ sir, senat). sen + ior (L.) 
or He or ior + ity ; sir ; sir{e) ; senat + or or or + ship or 
or + (i)aZ or (e). 

Seiitire, to feel, think, perceive {sent, sens, sensat, 
sensit). as, con, dis, re ^ sent; s{c)ent ; sent + e?ice ; 
sent{i) + ent or m67^^^ or fnent + <2Z ; senf + e7it + (i)o2^,9 or 
{i)ons + ly J re + sent + 77ient or fnl J sens{e) ; sens{e)-\-less ; 
sens-\-ible or ibl-{-y or ibil + ity; sens{\i)+al or Oi/<§ or 
al + ity; non -{- sens{e) ; non -h sens -h ic + al ; sensat-hion 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building. 149 

or io7i-\-al or ion-{-al-\-ly ; i?i-hsensat{e) ; sensit -\- ive or 
ive + ness. 

Seqiiiy to follow {sequ^ su^ secut^ suit), sequ + el or ent 
or ence J con-\-seqii+ent or 6?zce or ent + ly ; sub + sequ-{- 
ent or ent-\-ly ; ptir-\-su-\-ance or (^/^^ or (e) ; en-{-su{id)\ 
su{e) ] per, pro-\-seciU-\-ion or or or (e) ; con+secut-^ion 
or f^'^/ ex + e€ut(=secut) + io7i or ^^'^ or or; suit; suit + 
able or or or (e). 

Severe, to knit together^ to connect {ser^ sert^ sertat^ 
cert). S6r + ies or mon (both words pure L.) or {\)al or 
{\)al + ly ; as, de, in + sert ; ex + erti^ = sert) ; ex + ert + ion ; 
a^, de, in -h sert -\- ion ; dis + sert at + ion ; con + cert. 

Sew are, to save, protect, give heed to {serv^ servat). 
con, oh, pre, re-\-serv{e) ; oi -\- serv + able or a7ice or er or 
abl + yj pre-\-serv-{-er ; un-\-re, un-\-ob, re -{- serv + ed ; 
re + serv + oir (Fr.) ; con, ob, pre, re -{- servat + io7i ; co7i, 
pre + servat + ive ; C07i, ob + servat -f- ory, 

Servire, to serve, to be a slave to {serv^ servit^ serf). 
serv{e) ; sew + ant or ice or ^76 or il + ity or ice -{-able or 
ile + ly; serviti-or or i/^/e; 6'?^Z>-f seri;+ (i)67^^^ or ent-\-ly ; 
de, snb, 7nis-}-serv{e) ; de + serv ■{- i7ig or i7ig-\-ly or ^cZ or 
ed-\-ly ; serf; serf-{-do7n. 

Signare, to mark, to mark out {sign^ signat, signattir). 
sign; sign + al or al-hize or al-hly or ^Z'; «5, co?^, cotmter, 
de, en, re + si//?i y r^ + s/y/ii + ed or ^^ + /y ; de + 8ir/ii + ^r or 
ed or ed-hly J as, con -{- sign -{-inent or ee; un-{-de, under + 
sign-{-ed; sign{\)-\-fg or fic-\-a7it or fic-\-ance or fic-\-at 
■\-ion; in-\-sign{\)+flc-\-a7it or ance ; de + signat + io7i ov 
or or (e) ; re -\- siguat -{- ion ; signatiir{e). 

Solus, alone, single (soZ, 8o/if, solat). sol{e) ; sol{o) ; 
sol{\) -{■ tude or loqu-{-y or loqti-hizej solit-^-ary or ^ri 
+ /^; de-\- solat -{-ion or (e). 



150 The English Language. 

Sonare, to sound {son, soun). as, con, dis, re + 30^1 + 
ant or ance ; par{—per), yer, tin{i)-\'Son; so7i-{-or-\-ous ; 
soiin(d) ; soiin{d) -f- less j re + soiin{di). 

Sors, sortis, lot, share {sort), sort ; as, con, re + sort; 
sort + er. 

Species, look, shape, pretense, kind, quality {sped). 
sped + al or al + ly or fie or fy or men or ous or al + ty or 
fie + af-h ion or (e) ; e-\- sped + aZ. 

{Stant.) See ^^^ar^. 

/S^i^ar^ (5^5?fo reduplicated sto), to stand, to be at rest {sta, 
St, Stat, stit, stitut, sist). sta-\-l)le{ = l)ulum) (building for 
animals) ; con{ — comes, count) + sta + l)le{ = hulum) ; oi + 
sta + clej e-\-sta-\-hl + ish ; sta -\- hie or U-\-y or hil-^ity ; 
con + sf -f- ant or ancy ; ar + re, contra + 8^ / circum, di, in, 
sub ■\- St ^ ance ; con, di, in-\-st + ant; ex + t{=st)-hant ; 
stat{e) ; re + in, in + stat{e) ; stat-hus (L.) or ion or ist or 
^r^ori(^ + 5; stcper + stit -\- ion ; con, de, in, pro, re, sni-f- 
stitut-hio7i or (e) ; as, con, de, in, per, re, sub -h sist ; as, 
re 4- sist + ance ; de, in, per, sub -h sist + ence ; re + sist + ible 
or ibil-\-ity or less or less -{- 7iess ; ex + ist{=^sist)+ent or 

Stellare, to be set with stars, to shine {stell, stellat). 
stell-\-ar or ul-\-ar ; stellat -^ed or (e) ; con -{• stellat -\-io7i, 

Stringere, to bind, to draw tightly {string, strain, strict, 
strictur, strait), string + ent or ent -f ly or e7^cy ; a, con + 
string -\- ent ; strain; con, di, re -\- strain ; strict; strict 
■\-ly or ness ; strictur{e) ; strait; strait -i-lsjCed or jacket. 

Struere, to spread, pile up, build, arrange {stru, struct^ 
structur, stroy), mis ^^ con, con -{- stru{e) ; in + strii -{- ment 
or ment -h al or ment + al i- ly or me?it + al + ity ; co7i, in, ob-h 
struct ; con, de, in, ob + struct + ion or ive or ive + Zy ; struct^ 
ur{(d) ', super + structur{e) ; de + stroy; de + stroy + er. 



Word- Analysis and Word-Building. 151 

SuaderBy to advise^, exhort {suad, suas), dis, per-\- 
suad{Q) ; suas 4- ion or ive or ive + ly ; disy per + suas 
-hion or ive or ive + ly. 

Sui, self (st*). 8t^(i) + cic^ + aZ or (e). 

Sumere—sui-\-emerey to take^ arrogate^ buy {sum^ 
sumpt), as, con, pre, re-^su7n{e) ; con, 171 + con, pre, re-{- 
sum + aile; as, con, pre, re + sumpt + ion or ive; pre-h 
sumpt{\i) 4- ous ; sumpt{u) + ous ; suinpt{u) + ary. 

(Surg.) See r eg ere, 

Tailler (Fr.)^ to cut (tail^tall). tail + or ; de, en, re-h 
tail; tall + y, 

Tangere, to touchy handle {tang, ting, tag, tig, tact, 
tegr, tegrat, teg, tain). tang-\-ent or ible or iil + y or 
ibil + ity or ent + {i)al or ency ; con + ting -\-ent or ent-\-ly 
or ency ; con -[-tag-]- ion or (i)o2^.<? or (i)o^^5 + ?^ or (i)o2^5 
+ 71688; con + tig + (vi) Otis or {\x)ity ; tact; tact + He; con, 
in + f acf / m -t- tegr -f <2? or aZ + ly or a^^ or ity ; in + tegrat 
+ ion or (e) ; in + teg + er ; at + tain; at + tain + able or 
7nent, 

Tegere, to cover {teg, tect). teg{vi)+ment ; in + teg{u) 
+ ment ; de, pro + tect; de, pro + tect + or or ion or ive; 
pro + tect + r{ = er)+ess or or + ate. 

Terere, to wear, to rub {trit, tri, triturat), trit{e) ; 
trit{e) + ly or nes8 ; con + trit{e) ; at, con + trit + ion ; de + 
tri + ment or ment + al ; triturat + ion or (e). 

Testari, to depose, be a witness^ make a will (^esf, testat). 
at, con, de, pro + test; test{i)+fy or fi + er or mo?zy or 
?7^o?^^ + al ; test{si) + ment or m^7z?f + ar^ ; pro + ^^s^ + a7it or 
ant + ism or ^r; testat + or ; in + testat{e) ; at, pro + testat 

Torquere, to twist, turn, wrest (for^, tortur, tor, tors). 
con, dis, ex J re + tort; con, dis, ex + tort + ion ; tort{vi) + 



152 The English Language, 

Otis or os + ity or ous + ly; tortur{e) ; tor-{-ment; tors-{- 

i07l. 

Triidere, to push^ thrust (tvud^ trus). de, ex, in, oi, pro 
+ triid{e) ; in + trud-^er; ex, in, oi, pro-\-trtis-i-ionj in, 
ob-\-trus + ive or ive + ly ; abs-\-trus{e) ; t{h.)rus{t), 

Undare, to surge^ swell (und^ undat, undulat), ah, 
super -^ai, red + und + ant or ant -{-ly or ance ; ai, superb 
ah, red-{-{o)if.nd; in-\-undat-\-ion or (e) ; undulat -{- ion 
or ory or (e). 

TJnire, to join^ make one; unus, one {un^ unit). un-\- 
ion or anim + ous or anim + ity ; tin(\) + corn( = cornu, 
horn) or son (sonar e) or voc + al or vers{e) or vers-\-al or 
form orfy or form + ity ; dis, re + un 4- ion ; unit ; unit{e) ; 
dis, re + unit{e) ; unit-\-y. 

Uti, to use {ut^ us), ut -f il + ity or ize ; ut + e7is{ = ent) + 
{Z; t^s(e) ; us-\-able or ^^e; tf8(e) +/i^Z or less or ful-hly or 
less + ly or ful + ness ; us{u)+al or ry or ri-hotis ; ah, dis, 
mis, per + t^s(e) ; jt?er + 1^« 4- ^^/ ; ab'hus + ive or ii^e + /y. 

Vadere, to go, rush (i;a(Z^ vas). e, in, per + vad{e) ; m 
-{-vad-her ; e, in, per-{-vas^ion; in, per -{-vas -hive, 

Valere, to be strong, worth {val^ vail), val + id or or or 
{i)ant OT id-i-ity ; equi^ pre-hval-\-e7it ; in -\- val + id or 16? 
+ ate; val{e) -i- diet + ory or ori-i-an; pre-\-val-\-ent or 
6/^6•e; co7i-\-val-{-esc-{-ent or encej val{vi)-{-{e) or «J/6 or 
fc^,^ or «^^ + ion ; a, pre + vail ; a-{- vail + able or abil + iYy. 

Vellere, to pluck, tear out, draw (vuls), con-\-vuls{Q) ; 
co;z, di, re-{-v'uls-\-ion ; con -{- vuls + ive or ive + ly or i>6 + 
^655 ; re -\- vuls-}- ion. 

Venire, to come (t^e/i, i;eiif^ ventur), con, C07itra, inter ^ 
super + i;en(e) ; m + co^, con + ^'e^(i) + e/z^ or ence or e^z^ + ly; 
a, re-\-ven{vi){Q) \ co -{• ven -\- ant ; ad, circum, con, e, in, 
pre + vent; con, contra, in, i^iter, pre -\- vent -\- ion; in, pre 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building, 153 

+ vent -hive J in-{-vent-\-or or ory ; con -\- vent ■\-{u)al or 
{i)cle; C071 + rent + ion -\-al or al-hism; e + vent-\-{u)al or 
{\x)al-\-ly J ventur{e) ; per + ad, ad + ventur{e) ; ventiir{e) 
+ 6'0m6 y ^6? + ventiir(e) + 6-o??i^. 

Vergere, to turn, to bend {verg). verg{e) ; co;^, cZi + 
verg + ent or e^c^ or e^ci/ or (e). 

Viare, to go, travel (^*^^ t'oi/, viat). de, oh, per, ini-\-per, 
pre + vi 4- oz^s or ous + /y ; ^r{ + vi + al or al + ity (what Tvould 
people accidentally meeting at the junction of {three) ways 
talk about?); vi{2^ -\- duct ; con, en + voij ; voxj-^age or 
ag-\-er ; de^- viat -{-ion or (e) ; oi-}-viat{e), 

Vicis, change, alteration ; vice, in place of {vic^ vice^ 
vis), vic + ar or ar + age or ar-}-{i)ous j vice-\-reg-\-ent ; 
vice -\-roy{=reg{s)=^ rex, king); vice + pre ■{- sid ■{- ent ; vis 
-\-count{ = comes—ciim-\-ire, to go with). 

Videre, to see {vid^ vis^ vic^ visits vey), e, 2^^o-i-vid-\- 
ent or ent-\-ly or ence j pro-hvid{<i)\ pro-^vid^ent -{-(^al 
or {i)aI-\-ly; pr{=2)ro) + iid{ = vid)-{-ejit or e?ice or ent + Iy / 
vis -i- age or io?i or ible or ion-\-ary ; ad, re, super -hvis{e) ; 
ad + t'«s + «5/6 or er or «576 + 7iess ; p)ro, re, super 4- vis 4- /o;^ / 
per-{-iis{ = vis)-\-al or (e) ; afZ+r«c4-(e) ; visit; visit + or 
or f^ ;z ^ ; j^^^ '% <^*^^ ^' + ^'^1/ / i^ ?^ '% ^ ?^ ^' + ^*^?/ 4- o^'. 

Vincere, to overcome, conquer {vinc^ vict), con, e, pro + 
vinc{e) ; p7^o-i-vinc-h{i)al or (\)al -{- ism ; in + vinc-\-ible or 
ibl + y or ibil-hity; con, e-{-vict; con, e-{-vict + io7i ; vict 
-hor or or-i-y or or4-(i)oz^5. 

FiVer^, to live (riv, i^if^ victii), viv-hid or acious or 
ac-\-ity ; re, sur-i-viv{e) ; re, sur-\-viv-\-al ; sur-{-viv-\-or 
ov or+s7iip ; vi{ = viv) + a7id ; vit + al or rtZ4-5 or al-i-ity; 
victu-hal-i-s ; con ■\-viv + {i)aI or {i)cd-\-ity, 

Volvere, to roll, turn around {volv^ volt^ vol^ voliit). 
circum, con, de, e, in, re-{-volv{e) ; re -j- volt; re + volt-i-er 



154 The English Language, 

or ing ; voI{vl) +me{=^me7i) or He or Ml + ity; con, e, m + 
volut-j-ion ; e + volut-{-ion-hist ; re-^-volut-^-ion or ion 
+ ary or ion + ize or ion + ^<§2f. 

F(92;er6^ to promise solemnly^ to dedicate {vow^ vot, vout), 
vow; a{ = ad)vow ; dis + a-\-vow ; dis + a, a-]-vow-^alj 
vot{e) ; vot-^er or ive or ary; de + vot{e) ; de + vot + ed 
or ed-i-ly or ed-hness; de + vot-\-io?i or io7i-\-al ' de-\-vout ; 
de + vout + Zy . 

Direction, — Do with these Anglo-Saxon roots as you did with the 
Latin. 

XLI. Anglo-Saxon Roots. — Beran, to carry, hear ; hear 

+ er; 5ar-f (r)ow; hur-hd + eiij hier ; for -\- hear ; over-\- 
hear. 

Bltan, to bite, hit ; hit{^ ; hit 4- er ; hit(t) + er or er + ly 
or er + ness or er + «§ ; hait. 

By man, l)rinnany to be on fire, hum; hran-\-d ; hran 
-hd (sword); hrin + d-\-{l)ed, a burnt color; hritn -{- stone 
(sulphur); hrun + t; hran (brand) + new ; hrown. 

Faran, to go. far{e) ; wel+far{e) ; field +/«fi^^(e) ; thor- 
ough (through) +far(e) ; fer + ry ; for -{-d ; fer + ry + boat ; 
fer + ry + man ; for -\-d-{- able, 

Graf an, to dig^ cut. grav(e) ; groov(e) ; grov{e) : grav 
+ er; en {=in)+grav + er or (e) or i7ig. 

Hal, sound, heal; hail ; hol-\-y (spiritually sound) ; hoi 
'V i + ness ; heal + th ; heal -\- th -\- y ; heal -\- th -\-ful j 
{w)hol{e) ; {w)hol{e) + some ; wws(he) +hdl=:wassail=he 
whole; hal -{-{l)ow. 

Sceotan, to throw, shoot; shot; shoot + er; shut; shut 
+ (t)er; sheet (that thrown over); shut -]- {t)le ; sheet + 
anchor (shot out) ; sheet + lightning ; scud. 

Beer an, to cut^ divide, shear ; shears; shar(e) ; shor{e) ; 



Word- Analysis mid Word-Building, 155 

plough -F sharifi) ; shre + d; pot -I- sher + d ; shir(e) ; sher 
+ iff {shire-TeeYe) ; scra{ip) ; scar ; shar{'p) ; scor{e). 

ScHfaii, to push; ' shov{e) \ shov{e) -^ el or' el-fer; scuf 
^ {f)U ; sheaf , 

Sittan, to sit. sU ; set ; he + set ; on + set ; over + set ; 
np + seij >set-\-{t)er J set-{-{i)le; set-\-{t)le + er ; set-h{t)le 
+ 7nent; seat, 

TreowaUy to beheye. trow ; trii{e) ) tru -hth ; tru + fh 
+ful or ful+ly ; tru-hism; tru-hst ; in-^tru + st ; tru + 
st + ee ; tru •\'St + y ; tru 4- st + worthy ; tro + tli, • 

Witan^ to know, wit ; to wit ; wis{e) ; wis + dom; wis 
(e) + ly ;\ wit + less ; wit + ling ; wit + {t)ic + is7n. 

Direction, — Use these Greek words and roots as you used the Latin,. 

XLII. Greek "Roots,— Arche^ beginnings rule^ government, 
chief {arch), mon, pairi {pater, IdiiYiei:), tet {tetra, tour) 
-\-arch ; an, hept {hepta, seven), hier {liieros, sacred), mon, 
olig {oUgos, tew) arch-\-y; mon^ olig^-arch-\-ic-\-al ; patri 
+ arch + al ; arch + ive -hs ; arch{si) + ic or isin ; arch{e) 
+ type; arc^(i) -f-tect {tekton, workman) or tect + ure or 
tect + ^^r + aZ or episcopal or pelago (sea) ; arc^ + bishop or 
deacon or. angel. . 

Cycle, a oircie,; a round of events {cycl^ cyclo). cycl + ic 
or ic + al ; en + cyd + ic + al ; cycl + ops (eye) ; cyclo + ne ; 
c?/cZo + pedia {paidia, instruction); 6;^ + ci/cZo + pedia ; cy~ 
clo + id OT id+al; epi, tri, ii-\-cycl{e), 

Graphein,io write {graph), graph + ic ov al-\-ly or ite ; 
auto {autos, one^s own), litho {lith'os, stone), j^^oto {phos, 
photos, light), tele (at a distance) + grra^^/i. / Mo {bios, lite), 
geo {ge, earth), litho, ortho {orthos, correct), photo, steno 
{stenos, narrow), tele, topo {topos, place), typo {tupos, tjipe) 
+ graphs y ; histori (history), lexico (lexicon), topo, typ)0'\- 



156 The English Language. 

graph -\- er ; tele + graph -\- ic or ist ; typo -\- graph -\-iG or 
ic + al. 

Hora, hour (hor^ hour), hor + al or ar-\-y ; hor{p)'\- 
scop{e) or scop-\-ic or scop ■\- ic -\- al or log{e) or log + y or 
log + ic + al; hour; ^^.oi^r + Z^/ or glass or plate. 

Logos, a word^ speech^ science, reason {log^ logu), log 
+ ic or ic-hal or ic-j-al + ly or ic + ian; ^ogr -{-arithms 
{arith?nos, number) ; afia, apo, Mo, chrono {chronos, time), 
concho (conche, shell), doxo (doxa, praise), entomo {entoma^ 
insects), etymo {etymon, source), eu, genea {genos, birth), 
geo, mytho {muthos, fable), ornitho (ornis, ornithos, bird), 
patho {pathos, suffering), phreno {phren, mind), phraseo, 
physio {phusis, nature), philo {philos, loved); psycho, 
{psuche, soul), tauto (the same), techno {techne, art), theo 
{theos, God), toxico {toxicon, poison), zoo {zoon, animal) + 
log + y; ana. Mo, chrono, etymo, genea, geo, mytho, ornitho, 
patho, phreno, physio, philo, psycho, tauto, theo, zoo + log + 
ic + al or ic + al-\-ly, (Out of some of the compounds above 
make nouns and verbs by suffixing ist, ism, and ize.) ana, 
apo, cata, deca, dia, ec, epi, mono, pro + logu{e) ; log{o)-\- 
mach + ^ (strife) ; syl-{-log + ism, 

Metr on, mesisure {meter f'inetr). meter; anemo {anemos, 
wind), baro {baros, weight), dia, gaso, hexa {hex, six), hydro 
{hudor, water), penta (five), peri, thermo {thermos, heat) -f 
meter ; metr 4- ic or + ic + al ; geo, syni, trigono {tri-vgonia, 
angle) + unetr + y. 

Pan, all, whole {pan^ pant), pan -\-the{=^ theos, God) 
+, ism or ist or is + tic or on ; pan + egyr + ic or ist or ic + al 
or ize; pan-hoiplj {opla, armor) ; pan + ace^ {akos, cure) ; 
pan + demon + ium ; pan + dects ; pan + orama (sight) or 
creas (flesh) ; pant{o) -\-\mviiQ (mimic). 

Petra, rock {petr). I*et{e)r; petr + el; petr{\) -\' fy ; 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building. 157 

petr ~f- oleum (oil) ; petr{\) -\-fact + ion or ive ; sal + t + 
petr{e), 

Philos, a friend or lover {phil^ philo). pM^ + anthrop 
{anthropos, man)+y or ist ; pJiilo + log -\- y or ist ; philo -\- 
soph {sopliia, wisdom) + er or y or ic or ic + a? or i;^^ ; J^liil 
+ adelph (adelplios, brother) + ta/i or ia ; p/it^ -f harmon 
(Jiarmonia, harmony) + ic or ic + s, 

Plionos, sound (jjhon). phon{o) + graph or graph -\-er 
or graphs- ic or log + y or type; ^z/^ sym-\-phoii-{-y or 
(i) + 02^5' ; phon{et) 4- ic or I'c + al ; j^^on + ic or 16? + 6- ; a^iti 
+phoni-y, 

PhusiSy nature {phys^ 2>/i?/8t). 2>/i?/8 + zV or ic + al or 
^c + m/i or ic + ist or ic + 5 ; 7neta +phi/s + ic + s or zc + al or 
IC 4- ia7i ; physi{o) + log -hy or ist or ic + al j i>/ti/si(o) + gnom 
{gnomo7i, interpreter) + 1/ or ist, 

Skopos, watcher, spy {scop, skept). scop{e) ; epi + scojp + 
acy or «Z or al-\-ian or a^e; from episcopus comes the a.-s. 
bishop, and so M + sJioj^ + ric and firch + bi -{- sJiop ; kaleido 
(halos, beautiful, and eidos, form), micro {mihros, small), 
stetJio {stethos, breast), stereo {stereos, solid) + 8cojp(e) (add 
ic or ic + al where you can) ; skept + ic or ic + al or ic + ism. 

To the Teacher ami the JPupil, — To illustrate the employ- 
ment of words formed from roots, we give below a few extracts from 
modern authors. Almost all of the words in italics are analyzed in the 
preceding pages ; the few not found there the pupil can now resolve 
without help from us. 

Direction, — Resolve into their elements the words italicized below, 
naming each root and the prefixes and suffixes in combination with it, 
and give the meaning of the compounds. 

* * He finds that very many of the native monosyllables are mere deter- 
minatives, particles, auxiliaries, and relatives ; and he can hardly fail 
to infer that all the intellectual part of our speech, all that concerns 



158 H The English Language, 

ojir highest spiritual and temporal interests, is of alien birth, and that 
only the merest machinery of grammar has been derived from a native 
source. Further study would teach him that he had overrated the 
importance and relative amount of the foreign ingredients ; that many 
of^dui* iiemingly insignificant and harharous consonantal monosyllables 
aii^'^pregnarit with the mightiest thoughts and alive with the deepest 
feelrn:g;; ithat the language of the purposes and the affeetionSy of the 
will and of the heart, is genuine English-born ; that the dialect of 
the market and the fireside is Anglo-Saxon ; that the vocabulary of the 
most impressive and effective pulpit orators has been almost wholly 
drawii from the same pure source; that the advocate who would co7i- 
vince' the technical Judge or dazzle and confuse the jury speaks Latin ; 
while he who would touch the better sensibilities of his audience or 
rouse the multitude . to vigorous action chooses his words from the 
native speech of our ancient fatherland; that the domestic tongue is 
the language . of passion and persuasion ; the foreign, of authority or 
of rhetoric and debate ; that we may not only frame single sentences, but 
speak for hours, without employing a single imported word ; and finally 
that we possess the entire volume of revelation in the truest, clearest, 
aptest form in which human ingenuity Jjas made it accessible to modern 
man, and yet with a vocabulary wherein, saving propev names and 
terms not in their nature translatable, scarce seven words in the hun- 
dred are derived from any foreign source.^^ — George P. Marsh, 

' ' Lord Brougham's opinion, that ' the Saxon part of our English 
idiom is to be favored at the expense of that part which has so happily 
coalesced from the Latin, and Greek,' he puts aside as * resembling 
that restraint which some metrical writers have imposed upon them- 
selves — of writing a long copy of verses from which some particular 
letter,' or from each line of which some different letter, should be care- 
fully exch'ided.'' From various causes he himself makes an excessive 
use of Latinized phraseology. 

His sentences are stately, elaborate, d^nd Cixowded with qualifying 
clauses diXid parenthetical allusions to a degree unparalleled among 
modern writers. He maintained, and j'listly, that ' stateliness the most 
elaborate, in an absolute sense, is no fault at all, though it may be so 
in relation to a given subject, or to any subject under given circum- 
stances.^ Whether in his own practice he always conforms to cir- 
cumstances!^ a question that must be left to individual ^as^e. There is 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building. 1,59 

, a certain statelimss in his sentences wnd^v almost all circumstances — a 
stateliness SLvising horn his hahiiual nse ot periodic susj>ens 

Explicitness of connection is the chief merit of De Quincey's para- 
graphs. He cannot be said to observe any other principled He is 
carried into yiolations of all the other 7'ules by his inveterate Aa&^Y of 
digression. Often, upon a mere casual suggestion, he branches off into 
a digression of several pages, sometimes even digressing from the 
subject of his first digression. 

The melody of De Quincey's j^rose is pre-eminently victh. sindi stately. 
He takes rank with Milton as one of our greatest masters of stately 
cadence, as well as of sublime compositio?i. If one may trust one's ear 
for a general impression, Milton's melody is sweeter and more varied ; 
but for magnificent effects, at least in prose, the palm, must probably 
be assigned to De Quincey, In some of his grandest passages the 
language can he compared only to the swell and crash of an orchestra." 
— William Minto, 

'* Now, the word controversy, in its popular or its prof essional use, does 
not, I think, apply exclusively to civil disputes. It seems rather to 
have a wider and more flexible signification than the word case, which 
certainly includes criminal accusations. Judicial controversies are 
disputes, dii^agr cements, differences between parties, respecting their 
legal lights and wrongs, wherein one controverts what the other alleges, 
and which are put in a form for judicial determination. If the Consti- 
tution had intended by the term ca^s to include civil and criminal 
proceedings, ... it would have employed some qualifying and 
explanatory epithet or expression to convey that limitation of the sense. 
There is no such broad and recognized difference of signification be- 
tween the words, standing alone, as to warrant the belief that the 
Constitution, distinguished always for its perspicuous, simple, and 
popular phraseology, could have expected or intended that they would 
be understood i\\ so fine, far-sought, and yet so momentous, a diversity 
of signification. 

Presuming that they may be more exposed, somewhat, to be disturbed 
and darkened by sympathy with local passion and excitation, with the 
pride and anger and short-lived and circumscribed emotions that con- 
vulse a state without sending a pulsation beyond its borders ; . . . 
presuming that they may be, by possibility, less profoundly impressed 
with the responsibilities attendant upon bringing ©n, by sl judicial 



IGO The English Language. 

decision, a war which their State would not have to sustain and which 
the nation would ; proceeding upon the obvious principle of common 
sense and common justice^ that the government which must answer, by 
its treasure and its blood, for a verdict or a Judgment, ought to have 
the right to give the verdict and render the judgment — upon this 
policy, and on these reasons, it was that the Constitution has enabled 
Congress to withdraw from the State courts and give to yours the 
ultimate determination of this kind of case/' — Rufus Choate, 

*' Those who have had little experience in voluminous reading, jpt^rsweo? 
for weeks, would scarcely imagine how much of downright physical 
exhaustion is produced by what is technically called the periodic style 
of writing. It is not the length, thQ paralytic flux of words ; it is not 
even the cumbrous involution of parts within parts, separately con- 
sidered, that bears so heavily upon the attention. It is the suspense, 
the holding-on, of the mind until what is called the apodosis, or coming 
round, of the sentence commences; this it is which wears out the faculty 
of attention. A sentence, for example, begins with a series of ifs; 
perhaps a dozen lines ai*e occupied with expanding the conditions under 
which something is affirmed or denied. Here you cannot dismiss and 
have done with the ideas as you go along ; all is hypothetic, all is 
suspended in air. The conditions are not fully to be understood until 
you are acquainted with the dependency ; you must give a separate 
attention to each clause of this complex hypothesis ; and yet, having 
done that, you have done nothing at all ; for you must exercise a 
reacting attention throvigh the corresponding latter section, in order to 
follow out its relations to all parts of the hypothesis which sustained it. 
In fact, under the rude, yet also artificial, character of newspaper style, 
each separate monster period is a vast arch, which, not receiving its Tcey- 
stone, not being locked into self-supporting cohesion, until you nearly 
reach its close, imposes, of 7iecessity, upon the unhappy reader all the 
onus of its ponderous weight through the main process of its construc- 
tion. The continued repetition of so Atlantean an effort soon over- 
whelms the patience of any reader, and establishes at length that 
habitual feeling which causes him to shrink from the speculations of 
journalists, or to adopt a worse habit than absolute neglect, which we 
shall notice immediately .'' — Thomas De Quincey. 

^' A nearer approach to exact retribution is certainly found in the 
remaining sanction — the favor and disfavor of mankind. The spec- 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building, 161 

tators of our conduct, morally constituted like ourselves, and looking 
at it from an impartial point of view, seem likely to be affected by it 
truly, and to judge it as would our own uncorrupted conscience ; so 
that their sentiment may be expected to rectify the distortions of our 
own, and place us under the rule of perfect equity. How little this 
abstract statement corresponds with the facts of individual experience 
is obvious on the slightest reflection. It is ^rt^e only under conditions 
that cannot be realized; viz., that some of our contemporaries have 
faultless moral insight smd judgment ; that- our actions sire performed in 
no presence but theirs ; and that we are dependent for our peace of mind 
on their approval. Wherever such conditions prevail, there must 
already be a moral consensus so complete that the very need could 
scarce aWse for compressing the individual conscience into coincidence 
with the social ; and the court of public opinion, if opened, would only 
find an empty calendar. It is no such ideal tribunal before which we 
are actually brought. The critics who think it worth while to pro- 
nounce upon our behavior are immediate neighbors, be they friends or 
enemies ; and they alone it is whose feelings towards us constitute an 
important element in our well-being ; if we can stand w^ell with them, 
why should we trouble ourselves about imaginary observers, whose 
applause is inaudible, and whose frowns we never see ? What, then, is 
the law by which a man's associates will judge him ? The average 
standard of purity, of disinterestedness, of elevation, on which they 
have tacitly settled as contenting them ; everything allowed by this will 
be held permissible ; everything transcending it will be held eC'Centric; 
and whether he drops below or rises above the established line, he will 
equally feel the smart of social persecution.'' — James Martineau. 
11 



U2 



The English Langtiage, 



lAtin roots— Foii reference. 

To the Pupil. — The^^liMerent forms wlii<3h the Latin i^oots assume in 
English derivatives will be found in bold-face type, within marks of 
parenthesis* Some of the roots below are not from the words given, 
: but from words derived from these. ' 

Eemember that in pronouncing Latin words there must be as many 
: syllables as there are vowels or diphthongs, thus : i-re, age-re (719^ 
'ag-ere). ■ ^ ■.:-■■■ •.. ■■ ■• ■ 



(act,) See Ac/ere. 

^quus (eqUf iqu^ equi^ equit)^ 

equal, jusL , 
. Agere {actf ag)^ to do, to drive, 
^Alienus (alien^ jalienat)^ an-, 
other, 



Animare {anim.^ anmiat)^ to 

give life. . . - 

Animus {anim)j mind. 
Annus (ann^ annu^ enn)^ a 

year, 
^ Cadere {cad 9 cas^ cid)yto fall, 
Capere {cap., capt^ ceiv^ ccpt, 

cip,cipatfCaptur)ytotake. 
Caput {capita cipit^ capitU' 

lat)f the head, 
(cas.j See Cadere, 
Cedere (ced^ ceed^ cess^ ceS" 

sat)^ to go, to yield. 
{ceiVf cept.) See Capere, 
(cid,) See Cadere, 
(cip.) See Caper e, 
[cipit,) See Caput. 
Clamare {dainty clamat)^ 

cry out, to call. 
Claudere {dud, clos, clus), 

shut. 



10 



to 



Credere {cred, credit) ^ to Mime, 
Currere {cur^ curVf citrs), to 

run. . . ■ . ■ , 
Dicere {diet, dictat), to say, 
Dignus (digfi)f worthy, 
Ducere {due, dud, ducat), to 

' l^cid, ~ , 

{enn.) See Annus, ,^:' .. , . . . ,,.,,■ 
{eqii,), See u^quus, , , ;. 

Facere {fdc, fact, feas, feet, 
; fi<^9 fy? fdctit), to do, to 

make. ■':,-... 

Felix {felic), happy. 
Ferre {fer, lot), to hear, to carry, 
{fie.) See Facere, 
p'luere {flu, fluct, flux, fluc^ 

tuat), to flow. 
Forma {form, format), a 

shape, a form. 
Frangere {fravig, fract, 

fring), to hreak, 
Fundere {fund, fus), to pour, 
Oradi [grad, gress), to step, to 

walk. 
Hcerere {her, lies, hesit), to 

stick, 
{iqu,) See ^quus. 



Word- Analysis and Word-Building, 



163 



Ire (ity itiat)^ to go, 

(lat.) See Ferre, 

Liter a {liter) ^ a letter, 

Loqui {loqti^ locut)^ to speak, -- 

Magnus (magn)^ great, 

Manus (maUf fnanu)^ the hand. 

Mergere {merg^ mers)^ to dip, 

to plunge. ' , 

Migrare (tnlgr^ migrat), to 

wander, to remove, 
Mittere {mit^ 7niss)^ to send. 
Pars {part^ parti) ^ a paH, 
Ponere {poUf pos, posit)^ to 

place, 
Potens {potent) f powerful, 
Scdndere {scendf scens), ^ . to 

climh, 
Scrihere {scriby script)^ to 

write, 
Secare (sec^ sect^ seg)^ to cut. 



Sedere (sed^ ,S€SSf sid)^ to sit. 
Specere \ [spect^ spic^ speC' 
or spicere ) tat)^ to look, to see, 
Spirare {sjJtrf spirat), to 

breathe, to blow, 
{tain,) See Tenere, 
Tempus {tempor)^ time. 
Tendere {tend^ tens, tent, 

tentat)f to stretch, 
Tenere {tain^ ten^ tent, tin), to 

hold. 
{tent,) See Tendere smdi Tenere, 
{tin,) See Tenere. 
Trahere {tract, trail), to draw; 
Tribuere {trihut), to allot, to 

give, 
Verbum {verb), a word, . 
Vertere {vert, vers, versat), to 

turn. 
Vocare {voc, vocat), to call. 



164 



The English Language. 



PREFIXES. 

ALPHABETICAL LIST — FOR REFERENCE. 

a-5= Anglo-Saxon, Z= Latin, ^=Grreek. 



a-sa=at, in, on, ov adds force, 
la. See ah or ad. 



gan 



a 



V z=: without, not. 



lab 



abs 
a 



=zfrom. 



lad 



a 
ac 
af 
ag 

al Y =to. 

an 

ap 

ar 

as 

at 

ci'Safter = behind. 
a-$all=whoUy, 

Iambi ) 

amb y —around, 
am ) 

gamphi—hoth, around, 
gana=:up, hack, through, 

lante } 

an f 

^anf { —^y^i'^^^i opposite 

gapo ) 
apS 

a-sbe=hy, ahout, over, to make, or 

adds force. 
lbene=welh 



-before. 



-from. 



ibi 



bin J- =tivo, twice, 
bis 



gcata \ 
cat ) 

icircumy 



ctrcu 



down. 

= around^ 



icontra 



contra > =^ against, 
counter ) 



icum 



1 



CO 

col 

com 

con 

cor 

coun 



=zwith, together, 
wholly. 



^ = apart, not, opposite 
act. 



lde=^down, from, or adds force. 
^"^"^dis \ =^"'*'"''' ''*"'• 

idis 
de 
des 
di 
dif 

ldU=:tW0. 

gdys—bad, ill, 

e, eCf e/, es. See ex, 

gen ) 

^^^ ). =in, on, 
em J ^ 

gepi I 
epS 



-upon. 



Word-Analysis and Word-Building. 



165 



^ i z=.well, good. 



> —out of, from. 



geu 

ev 

igex 
e 

€C 

ef 

es 

(e)sj 
lextra=heyond, 
a-sfor=not, from, 
as fore — before, 
as forth = forward, 
as fall z= completely, 
a-sgaiti — against, 
ghemi—half. 
g hyper— over, beyond, 

ghypo I sunder, 

hyp) 

a-sin } —in, on ; sometimes in- 

im i' tensive. 
Hn 



gmeta 



met \ =^^2/^^^» change. 



en 

i 

il 

im 

ir 

Hn 
am 
an 
em 
en 

ig 
il 
tin 
ir 

Hnter 



znot. 



y —in, on, upon. 



enter > =between, 
intel ) 

Hntro = within, 
ljuxta=near to. 



-alone. 



=in front, in the way, 
against. 



a-sniis= wrong, wrongly. 

gmono 

man 

a-snever^^not ever, 

ine ) 

nee > ^^not. 
neg ) 

lnon:=not^ 

lob 
o 
oc 
of 
op 
o{h)s^ 

a-soff=from. 

a-s out— beyond, 

a-sover = above. 

gpara } =side by side, un- 

par ) liJce, 
Ipen {p(Bne)= almost. 
iper 1 

P^^I' l=zthrough, thoroughly, 

pil J 

gperi = around, 
gpoly=many, 
Ipost— after, 
lpre=before, 
ipreter=past. 

ipro I ^for, forth, 

pur ) -' ' ^ 

gpro=before, 

gpseudo=false, 

^^ , i —back or again, 

iretro — backward. 



166 



The English Language. 



>- =zunder. 



isevii—half, 
isine=without 

sou 

sue 

suf 

sug 

sum 

sup 

SUV 

sus 

isuhtev— under, 
isuper 

SU7' 

gsyn V 

1^^ >=^with, together, 
symj 



= above, over. 



a-sto=the, this, 

Hrans '] 

tran ! =over, \ beyond, 
tra 1 through, 

tres J ,: 



iQtri 



tre 



(= 



three, thrice. 



hiltr a— beyond, ' 
a-sitn=not (in adj. and nouns). 
(i-sun=:opposite act (in verbs)* 
(i-sunder=beneath, 
^vice=insteadof. 
(^•swell=rightly, 
a-swith=against, from. 



SUFFIXES. 



ALPHABETICAL LIST — FOR REFERENCE. 

The part of speech formed by the aid of the suffix is indicated by 
the letter placed before it. — :^=:^noun, i."=verb, a=adjective, ad= 
adverb. i 

The language from which the suffix comes is indicated by; the letter 
placed after it. — a-8=rAnglo-Saxoh, Z=Latin, ^=Greek, /=:French. 



(^ble \ (accusing, v ,-: 

«ac {g)= pertaining to, ' j 
(^aceous }{l)=having the quality 
(^acious ) of , full of , " \ 
nacy if)— state or quality of ^eing. 
nad. See at. ' , 

f state of being, ; 

[ a collection ofi . 



« nal if)— pertaining to ; the act of, 

a nan 1 

aifi [ (I) = pertaining to ; 
ane \ one who, 
ian } 

a7it (I). See ent. 
(lar {I)— pertaining to. 



Word-Analysis und Word-Bmlding. 



167; 



nar. See ery the first. 
nard {as)=one who. 

i belonging to. 
(l) = < one who, place 
( where. 

p. part, ending; in 
n. stem also. 



^ary 



art 



nvat 



it 



(0; 



( having, 
anvate (l)=Aonewho. 
I to make. 

hie. See ahle. / - 

nbiilum 

^f^ {place. 

nculum y{l)=i Qj. 

Vle^ I hy which. 

chre) 
ce. See acy. 

nfule \ (0=^^*^^^^ (diminutiYes). 
cy. See acy. 

ndom {a''S)= state of being, do- 
main of. 

'i^ed I (a'S) past tense and past 
d j 'par. 

nee {f)=one to whom. 

l^^,\if)=onewho. 

'veer{l). See er, the third. 
el. See al. 

(made of. 
a V nen {a-s)— < to make, past par. 

{ Z^7^Ze (diminutiye). 

^ ^~ ( being or irig. 

ner (a-s)=one who or that which. 

aer {a-s)— more (comparative de- 
gree). 



^er {a-s) (J) (frequentative or eaus-, 

ative). 
ev {a-s) adjective ending. 

^ (place where. 

nry \^^^^-^ collection. 
J \^art of. 

'^esc {l)=to grow to or tend or he* 
come. 

n ess { f ) =fem ale. 

<^esque (/) {I. iscus)=^ somewhat, 
like. 

(^est {a-s)— most (superlative de- 
gree). 

^^^^^et \ (f)=^^^^^^ (diminutive). 

^et {g)=one who. 

aful (a-s)— full of, causing. 

^fy {P)=to make. 

^head ) {a-s) = state or quaU 

hood) 
ihle. See able. 

a : 



ity of being. 



*^^^i [one who. 

nice {l)=state or quality of being, 

HCS } r \ ' ^ 

nic \ {9)=science of 

aid {l)= quality, pertaining to. 

nil \ {f^-^)—^'^ii^^ (diminutive). 

ier. See eer. 

Hie {l)=able to be, relating to, 

Hne (I)=belonging to; n. ending 

also, 
n vaing {a-s)— the act; continuing, 
nion {l)=act of, state of being o 
Hse 
Hze ' 



I {g)=to make, to give. 

' somewhat 
to make. 



^^is7i(a-s)=j^^^^^-^^^'^''^- 



168 



The English Language. 



ish. See esc, 

nism (g)— state of being, doctrine. 

nist (g)=zone who, 

^dite {l)=one who is; being, 

nfii [ U)—^^^^^ or quality of being . 

n aive {l)=one who; that which, 

having power or quality. 
nigc (I) = female. 
ize. See ise. 

nkin {a-s)=little (diminutive). 
He (I) (frequentative). 
nlence (1)= abundance of. 
ctlent (l)=abounding in. 
aless {a-s)=without. 
Het (a-s)=little (diminutive). 
nling {a'S)=little (diminutive). 
aadly {a-s)=like, manner. 
nfri.en(l)—that acted upon. 

nment (I) = state of being, act of, 
that which. 

nmony {l)= state of being, that 
which. 

nness {a'S)= state or quality of 
being. 

nock (a-s)=little (diminutive). 

on» See ion. 

nor (l)=one who, that which. 

nor } (I) ( /. eur) = state or 
our ) quality of being. 



i relating to, 
anory (I)— < place where, 
( thing which. 

of. See et, the second. 
aple {I)—fold. 
ry. See ery, 

n vs or es {a-s) =:plu, of nouns ; dd 
per, sing, of verbs, 

n^s or ^ =zpossessive case, 
nship (a-s) = state of, office of, 
siofif son. See ion. 
asome (a-s) =full of, causing, 
nst{a-s)=state of being, 
nster (a-s)=07ie who, 

f f {^-^) = state of being, 

Hime {l)=belonging to, 
tion. See ion. 

""^^^^ude^ (Z)=stefe ofUing. 
ty. See ity. 
aul {I)— prone to. 

^^^^^ul \ (^)=^*^^^^ (diminutive). 

nure {l)=state or act of, that 

which. 
aurn {l)=belonging to, 

ddwise {a-s)=manner, 
ny {a-s). See ie. 
ay (a-s) =fuU of, having. 
ny (l) {g)=state of being. 



INDEX. 



PAGB 

f Anglo-Saxon Declension of 36 

Adjective, The •< Comp. in er and est 36-39 

( Comp. by Adverbs 37 

Anglo-Saxon Conquest of Britain 4-6 

Anglo-Saxon Literature 10 

Anglo-Saxon Words in the Vocabulary 79-85 

Anglo-Saxon Words in Use 85-89 

{ First Period 7, 8 

Celtic in English } Second Period 19, 20 

(Third Period 20 

Celts, The 3 

Classification of Languages 1-3 

Coalescence of the Anglo-Saxon and the Norman-French 14-18 

Danelagh 7 

Danish Conquest of Britain 6,7 

Dialects in English 76-78 

English, The— The New Tongue 18 

Englishman's (The) Debt to his Ancestry 13 

Greek, Hebrew, and the Modern Languages in English 21-23 

. First Period 8 

-r ^. . T^ , . 1 I Second Period 8, 9 

LatmmEnghsh ^hird Period 18,19 

I Fourth Period 20, 21 

Latin Words in the Vocabulary now 79-85 

Latin Words in Use now" , 85-89 

Norman Conquest 12, 13 

r Changes in the Vowels of Endings and Drop- 

Non Th J V^^S of Vowels and Consonants 29-31 

I Exceptions to these Changes 31-34 

^ Grammatical Gender 34, 35 

( The Alphabetic Characters 25 

Orthographical Changes •< The Sounds of Letters 25-28 

( The Spelling 26-28 

Prefixes and Suffixes 118-122, 164-168 



170 



Index, 



Pronoun, The 



4. 



Romans in Britain. 



Adjective Pronouns-^ , 

All and Both. , 51 

Any Qne Mse's or Any One's Else, . . 53, 54 

Each Other and One Another 54, 55 

Either and JS^either, 55, 56 

JS'one 56 

One :....... ;. 52, 5g 

Some , , 51 

The One, The Other ,, 53 

Interrogative Pronouns — 

W/w, Which, and What 45, 46 

3,. Personal Pronouns- — 

Its 41, 42 

Ours, Yours, Hers, and Theirs 43, 44 

Self .:........... 44 

ThoVr and You, ........... i 43 

Ye and You . .................. 42, 43 

Relative Pronouns — 

Who, Which, What, smd That ...... . 46-50 

3,4 

..... T^ ,.,( First Period 9,10 

Scandinavian m English I g^^^^^ ^^^^^ 20 

Synonyms....................!.. ....................... 90-113 

Anglo-Saxon Gerund. 64 

Compound Tenses . . 66, 67 

Conjugations, Strong and Weak 57-59 

i)t>........................ 68, 69 

Double Preterite Forms 64 

Future Tense. ..... . 65, 66 

Loss of Strong Verbs 59, 60 

Passive Voice 69, 70 

Passive, Expressing Continuance 70-72 

Prefix ge 65 

Present and Past Tenses. 60-65 

Progressive Form . • 67, 68 

Vocabulary, Growth of. 115-118 

(Anglo-Saxon Roots 154, 155 

Word^Analysis and Word-Building < Greek Roots 155-157 

(Latin Roots 123-154 

Words, Meaning Narrows, Widens 90 



r 



Verb, The 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



003 243 809 A 




Sp6iHiDgr Lpiiguag^e Lessojis, Grammai", 






i, 4i.«Ati 



■u^r>"^ C^- 



